


Transgressions

by wonderbug



Category: InuYasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale
Genre: Action/Adventure, Drama, F/M, Romance, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-25
Updated: 2019-03-11
Packaged: 2019-03-23 14:36:47
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 27
Words: 130,152
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13789794
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wonderbug/pseuds/wonderbug
Summary: With her friends' lives hanging in the balance, Kagome agrees to Sesshoumaru's demands and sets about righting a wrong she committed on the day they first met. But her crimes against the demon lord run far deeper than she knows, and his dark obsession is only the beginning... [SessKag, CU/AR]





	1. Chapter One

**DISCLAIMER: I don’t own Inuyasha. :(**

**Author’s Note:** This is a CU/AR story originally published by me over on FF.net. FYI, the rating is VERY likely to go up. Feedback is greatly appreciated. :) …Enjoy!

EDIT 1/19/14 - Decided to go ahead and increase the rating, just in case.

**_Transgressions_ **

**Chapter One**

"Look, Kagome-chan—a village!"

Kagome followed Sango's pointing finger, spotting thin wisps of smoke rising in the distance, just beyond the edge of the forest. As they crested the hill before them, she saw huts and even a few larger houses clustered in the valley below, flanked by a large grid of rice paddies.

She grinned, sharing in Sango's excitement. Finally, they'd be able to sleep on an actual _bed_ for a change! For the past week or so, they'd been forced to camp out in the wilderness, and every muscle in Kagome's body was screaming bloody murder.

Of course, she couldn't blame her achiness _entirely_ on her poor sleeping arrangements. In fact, she could hardly blame them at all.

 _Sleep_ , Kagome thought ruefully, _Kami knows how little of_ that _I've been getting recently_.

As if on cue, she felt a prickle at the edges of her senses, and she paused, gripping the handlebars of her bicycle tightly. After a moment, she felt it again—stronger this time. A tendril of youki extending outward from the darkness of the forest, brushing against her, trailing like a finger down her spine.

Kagome shivered, shutting her eyes.

When a hand fell on her shoulder, she nearly screamed.

"Kagome-chan, are you all right?" Sango asked, looking at her in concern.

"Oh, I-I'm fine!" Kagome stammered, laughing nervously as she fought to regain her calm. "Perfectly fine! I was just, uh, lost in thought."

Sango studied her for a moment longer, brown eyes narrowed slightly in suspicion, before she nodded slowly and turned away. As she left, Kagome let out a breath of relief, sagging forward against the handlebars. Her heart was still pounding like crazy.

 _Stupid nerves_ , she muttered inwardly, resuming her course.

She eased her bike over a large tree root—hopefully for the last time _ever_ —and as the trees thinned at last to grass, she gave a whoop of joy and swung herself into the seat. Kicking forward with a burst of energy she didn't know she had, Kagome quickly overtook the rest of the group, shooting past them down the hill.

"Hey—watch it, woman!" Inuyasha yelled.

She glanced back to see him jumping up and down next to Kikyou like an angry flea. Laughing, she stuck her tongue out at him and pedaled harder, sending up a cloud of dust as she merged onto a dirt road at the bottom of the hill.

The village huts grew larger and larger, but Kagome didn't slow down in the least. She sped through the village square, darting past shocked-looking farmers and causing a small flock of chickens to suddenly take wing. Their affronted clucks followed her out of town.

For miles and miles, she raced on, over hills and plains, through rice paddies and another quaint little village. She felt alive and light and free, and for the first time in what seemed like forever, she actually started to believe she _was_ free. Free from the pressures of shard-hunting and final exams. Free from stupid hanyous and dead ex-girlfriends that _insisted_ on hanging around. Free from—

Kagome's hands slammed down on the brakes. She pitched forward violently, the abruptness of the stop nearly sending her over the handlebars. Her head spun from left to right as she rapidly surveyed her surroundings, seeing nothing unusual.

Sweat broke out on her palms. The fine hairs on her neck stood on end. Around her, the air was quiet and still. _Too_ quiet.

She swallowed, trying to ignore the eeriness that enveloped her. Trying to pretend that it was all in her mind, that the flash of white she'd glimpsed earlier had just been a figment of her imagination.

But this silence…there was a strange heaviness in it. It seemed to brood, weighing upon her like a loathsome burden, suffocating her with its presence.

 _I'm being watched_ , she admitted to herself in grim resignation.

She wanted to scream—in frustration, in anger. She'd been so frightened for so long that she was just plain sick of it. Of _him_.

She glared into the thicket of trees on her left, no longer caring whether he saw her or not. Heck, he might not even _be_ in that direction. For all she knew, he could be watching her from a mile away.

"Stupid dog demons and their super-senses," she grumbled, wheeling her bike around.

The return trip had seemed much longer than the outgoing one. Pedaling all the way back to that first village had felt like a chore, and by the time Kagome reunited with the others, she was flat-out exhausted. Emotionally and physically.

Soon, she'd probably be able to add 'spiritually' to the list as well.

Miroku had worked his magic like always—securing them lodgings at the home of the village elder after performing a dubious double exorcism. Inuyasha and Kikyou had a room to themselves, thankfully, with Kagome and the others staying in a larger room adjacent to theirs. She prayed to Kami above that the walls would be thick enough to block out sound. If she had to listen to those two humping all night, she might literally gouge out her own eardrums with a blunt arrowhead. If that was even possible.

 _Probably not_ , Kagome thought dejectedly.

She stared morosely into the flames of the hearth, mechanically shoveling rice and fish chunks into her mouth. It was the first solid meal she'd had in days, and she couldn't even properly enjoy it. Everything tasted like sawdust in her current state of depression.

The others weren't talking much at dinner, and it took Kagome a while to realize that her black mood was the cause of their unease. Attempting to lighten the situation, she smiled winningly, a few grains of rice falling from her lips.

She had the feeling nobody was fooled, but they didn't say anything, either. Eventually, conversation resumed as normal.

 _They probably think I'm still sulking over Kikyou joining the group_ , Kagome figured, gulping down water like she'd just finished crossing a desert.

While Kikyou's irritating presence wasn't the chief source of Kagome's anxiety, it certainly didn't help matters. Ever since Kikyou had started traveling with them several weeks ago, Inuyasha had been nothing short of horrible to Kagome, seemingly going out of his way to make her miserable. He treated her with more contempt now than he ever had before, as if he needed to prove to Kikyou that he harbored no trace of warm feeling toward her shabby reincarnation.

Strangely, Kagome and Inuyasha hadn't quarreled much over the past few weeks. Instead of starting heated arguments, he had treated her mostly with harsh disdain, and Kagome found that she actually _missed_ their dumb bickering. It had been light, petty—yet almost affectionate at times. Mostly their quarrels had stemmed from his over-protectiveness, and so Kagome supposed she shouldn't be all that surprised that their days of arguing were over. Now that he had Kikyou back, Inuyasha had made it _abundantly_ clear that he couldn't care less whether Kagome lived or died.

She sighed, drawing her knees to her chest. The futon beneath her felt wonderfully soft, but Kagome was far too troubled to rest. She felt trapped between two worlds, between two different universes of dreams and expectations. The modern world was her home, the one place where she was beginning to believe she truly belonged. In present-day Japan lived her family who loved her, and there were no demons to fight or shards to collect. How trivial studying and homework seemed compared to life in Sengoku Jidai, where she had few friends and a legion of enemies, and where the only boy she'd ever fallen in love with had so coldly cast her aside in favor of a girl who wasn't even flesh and blood.

She had considered leaving the past altogether, and she almost certainly would have, if not for _him_.

Kagome stood, padding over to the small window behind her. She gazed out across the marshy fields of rice, blue eyes scanning the darkness for a glint of gold. Was he out there even now—watching, _waiting_?

She could leave Sengoku Jidai. She could say good riddance to Inuyasha for tearing out her heart and stomping it in the dust. She could pawn her responsibilities off on Kikyou without too much guilt. She could say goodbye to her friends forever, and although she would cry over them for a while, eventually she would be able to move on with her life.

But she couldn't allow _him_ to make good on his dark promises. She could never live with herself if she left her friends to face his wrath. And it would be terrible indeed. Kagome was under no illusions about his strength or theirs. There was simply no comparison.

Inuyasha had gotten in a few lucky shots against him, but they were mostly like bee stings—minor annoyances which left no lasting mark. While Kagome herself had apparently damaged him to a greater extent, she could almost laugh at the idea of _her_ facing off against him with her meager bow and arrows. He'd probably arch one silver brow and reduce her to a pile of ashes on the spot.

No, she couldn't leave—not _yet_ , anyway. Not until she fulfilled her end of the bargain.

Extremely weary all of a sudden, Kagome tiptoed back over to her futon, careful not to wake her sleeping companions. She lay down, curling onto her side as she drew the thin white blanket up to her chin.

 _Soon_ , she told herself, her heavy eyelids drifting closed. _It'll all be over soon._

**xXxXxXx**

A few hours later, Kagome awoke with a start.

Youki lashed across her consciousness like a whip, sharp and fast and stinging. She scrambled out of the futon, springing to her feet in a cold sweat. Her breathing was shallow and quick, and she glanced about her in a panic, checking to see if anyone else had been alerted to the demon's caustic presence.

But her friends slept on unaware, their features peaceful and relaxed. A little of her tension bled away at the sight. As usual, this peculiar summons had been directed at her and her alone.

A moment passed before his youki struck out at her again, angry and insistent. It carried with it an air of impatience, and Kagome wondered how long he had been attempting to reach her. She was certain that the level of hostility she'd experience would be directly proportional to time.

 _Ugh, I'm thinking in terms of math_ , Kagome despaired, cradling her face in her hands. _This isn't a good sign._

She tread lightly across the wooden floor, making her way toward the exit. She was almost scot-free when her foot landed on the one creaky floorboard in the whole entire room—a floorboard which just happened to be right next to the ear of the world's lightest sleeper. Kagome froze, staring down at Miroku with bated breath.

"Hmm?" the monk murmured, cracking open an eye. "Is something wrong, Kagome-sama?"

"No, I just…"

… _have to go meet up with a bloodthirsty, sociopathic demon lord for a few hours or he'll kill us all,_ her idiotic mind supplied unhelpfully. _No big deal._

"…can't sleep," she finished in a lame whisper.

"Ah," he said sympathetically, propping himself up on one elbow. "It is not easy to rest when your mind is troubled." His tone dropped an octave, his hand snaking its way up the back of her thigh. "You know what helps me put my thoughts at ease, Kagome-sama…?"

Her fingers itched with the urge to slap, but she resisted the impulse, unwilling to draw more unnecessary attention than she already had. Instead, she shook off his wandering hand with quiet dignity and kicked him in the shoulder.

"Pervert!" she snapped in a hushed voice. "I'm going outside to get some air."

At the doorway, she slipped into her pair of black loafers and gently slid back the screen, walking quietly down the short hallway. She passed Inuyasha and Kikyou's room, cringing at the soft little moans escaping through the flimsy shouji screen door. Fists clenching at her sides, Kagome glared heavenward.

 _Okay, so I know I only asked You to make the_ walls _soundproof, but come on, cut me some slack here!_

Gritting her teeth, Kagome continued on her course, practically stomping her way down the rest of the hall. It's not like those idiots would hear her over all that sex-noise, anyway. And even if she _did_ manage to disturb them, it'd only serve them right for ruining her life.

Once outside, blanketed by the cool darkness of night, Kagome felt the heat of her temper dissipate, leaving an ominous chill in her blood. She'd been so distracted by Inuyasha and Kikyou's antics that she'd forgotten the main reason why she'd stormed out of that house in the first place.

Shivering slightly, she crossed her arms under her chest, wincing when her fingers pressed a bit too hard on the fresh bruises hidden beneath the right sleeve of her cardigan. The pain was a vivid reminder of what had transpired the previous evening, of what had happened when she'd attempted to defy _him_.

She'd gotten carried away. Last night had been her first real breakthrough, and she'd been so caught up in that brief moment of victory that she'd refused his orders to stop. She'd simply shrugged off his words—surely she'd misheard him, anyway—and pursued that elusive thread of magic until his youki had slammed down before her like an iron gate, the fingers of his good hand curling vise-like around her upper arm as he'd flung her back. She'd hit the ground hard, crumpling like a rag doll, her eyes watering in pain. Yet through the sheen of her tears, she'd seen something even more alarming than his sudden act of violence. Something that had frozen the blood in her veins.

Of course, she'd been frightened of him before that moment. Who wouldn't be?—it was only natural for a human such as herself to possess a healthy fear of powerful, potentially lethal demonic creatures. She doubted she'd have survived long in this era otherwise.

No, the fear she'd felt last night had been an entirely different sort. When she'd seen that _look_ in his reddened eyes, a primal sort of terror had overtaken her unlike any she'd ever experienced before. It had welled up from the most primitive part of her brain, telling her to run, telling her to hide, telling her to fight, telling her to do _anything_ —anything but lay there helplessly like she had been, gazing up at him with wide, terrified eyes.

It had been the fear of something far worse than death that had driven her to her feet and propelled her through the forest with more speed than she'd ever believed possible. Something that had followed her through the night and haunted her daylight hours. Something that scared her even now as she made eye contact with him across the rice fields at the edge of town.

He stood out against the darkness like a spirit from another world. A faint white glow surrounded him, illuminating his sharp, angelic features and making him seem not entirely real. His silvery-white hair waved in the gentle breeze like a sheet of silk, his swords and spiked armor gleaming in the moonlight.

He stared dispassionately at her as she approached him, but Kagome could feel the simmer of his rage.

"What kept you?"

She tensed, not expecting to hear such a strong undercurrent of anger in his tone.

 _He must_ really _be furious with me_ , she thought in dread.

"Gomen, Sesshoumaru-sama," she answered cautiously, being extra polite by _not_ making the use of his honorific sarcastic for a change. "I was sleeping."

Golden eyes flicked over her face briefly, lingering for a moment on the dark half-circles smudging the skin beneath her lower lashes. The sky seemed to lighten a fraction as she felt his fury subside. Perhaps his lordship had condescended to recall that sleep was, in fact, a necessary component of human survival. A component which he, in his superior youkai wisdom, had seen fit to deprive her of for almost _an entire week_.

"Come," he said tonelessly, turning on his heel.

Kagome fell into step behind him without a word of protest, nearly jogging to keep up with his long strides. He led her into the woods at the far edge of the rice paddies, only stopping once they were a fair distance in. Lowering himself gracefully to the grassy floor, he reclined against a tree trunk, and Kagome followed him down, kneeling at his left side.

He offered her his empty sleeve, and she accepted it mutely, rolling back the fabric with practiced ease and exposing the stump of pale, sculpted flesh underneath. As he reigned in his youki, dropping his defenses, she took what remained of his left arm gently in her hands, her eyelids sliding swiftly shut.

Reiki extended outward from her fingertips, tingeing her skin and his with a soft pink glow. Carefully, she probed his crippled appendage with spiritual energy, slipping past the latent youki that hovered like dark clouds in her mind's eye. Months ago, when she'd not been able to control her aura so well, she'd accidentally brushed those clouds with her reiki and ended up giving his stump a pretty nasty burn.

 _Yeah, he hadn't been too happy about that,_ she recalled uneasily.

The haze of dark energy grew thickest around the white-hot magic of the seal, his youkai blood still fighting to contain the threat of Kagome's enchantment. When she'd unknowingly laid this curse upon him during their very first encounter, his defenses had sprung into action even in his weakened state, preventing the seal from spreading out from the initial point of contact. Kagome's magic had remained isolated at the source of his injury, in a weird kind of quarantine.

Powerful as Sesshoumaru was, he'd been unable to reverse the spell on his own, and this was, apparently, a source of great irritation to the proud daiyoukai. The problem was…

Kagome didn't know how to undo the seal either.

Tendrils of her reiki unfurled, touching lightly against the glorious confusion before her. The magic of the seal resonated with her own, humming low in recognition. It was difficult for Kagome to describe the nature of the enchantment. The closest thing she could compare it to was a tangle of magic threads. A brilliant, burning web of chaos, born from her raw, instinctual response to Sesshoumaru's terrible power.

She still didn't know exactly how she'd managed to get one over on the Lord of the Western Lands. The only thing she could figure was that when she'd pulled Tessaiga free in the demon's graveyard, she'd somehow, in her state of sheer panic, imbued it with a flood of raw spiritual energy which had later found an outlet in the severing of Sesshoumaru's left foreleg.

It wouldn't be the first time she had used her miko powers unexpectedly in a pinch. Even during her first trip down the well, it had been a burst of reiki from her palms which had saved her from becoming Mistress Centipede's newest tasty snack.

Of course, Sesshoumaru hadn't believed her claims of ignorance...at first. However, after several sessions of near total failure—where only his stark intimidation of her had been able to prompt even a fizzle of reiki—to sessions in which she'd nearly amputated the _rest_ of his arm, she could tell that he was starting to see the light.

 _Yes,_ his narrowed eyes had seemed to say, _she truly_ is _incompetent enough to curse this Sesshoumaru unintentionally._

But then, gradually, Kagome's control over her spiritual powers had begun to improve. She'd been able to touch the seal for the first time without scorching Sesshoumaru in the process and had at last been able to get a decent idea of what she was up against—the knowledge of which had nearly sent her running for the hills.

Dispelling this enchantment would be no easy matter, especially for a woefully inexperienced miko such as herself. When Kagome had timidly suggested he might be better off going to Kikyou for aid, the glare he'd given her had told her precisely where she could shove _that_ little piece of advice.

"This seal is your doing, miko," he'd said in a voice that could freeze over all seven hells and then some. " _You_ will see it undone."

So here they were, weeks later, with only a small amount of progress to show for it. And last night, after _days_ without sleep, when she'd finally succeeded in unraveling a small part of that god-awfully convoluted seal, he'd snarled at her, roughed her up, and scared the living daylights out of her with his creepy red-eyed look. Even when she'd singed his hair during one of their previous encounters he hadn't lost it quite like _that_.

She just hadn't understood his reaction at all—didn't he _want_ his arm to grow back?

His temperamental behavior was enough to bring any miko to her wit's end—and Kagome was already halfway there on a _good_ day. She just hoped he would permit her to do her job from now on so that they could both be done with this business and go their separate ways.

Kagome frowned in concentration, testing for a weakness in the messy, intricate fabric of her spell. Fingers of reiki pulled and prodded at the dormant magic, and soon she could feel the seal bending under her will like never before. Last night, she realized, had been a turning point for her as a priestess. Last night she had discovered something fundamental about her spiritual power, something she couldn't believe she hadn't picked up on before.

Her reiki was not a weapon. It was not a tool. It was _her_ —her essence, her very soul.

"Become the arrow," Kaede had always barked at her during archery practice, and it had been all Kagome could do not to roll her eyes at the old lady's annoying, zen-like nonsense. "Ye _must_ become the arrow, child."

But Granny Kaede hadn't been trying to imitate the Buddha. She'd only been telling Kagome to change her _perspective_. Such a little thing, yet it had made all the difference in the world.

This raw, wild magic before her, strong enough to turn even the limb of a great daiyoukai into a useless stump, was just as much a part of her as the reiki emanating from her fingertips. That didn't necessarily mean she could control it, per se; there were a lot of things about herself which weren't always within her control. Like her pesky emotions. Or the state of her hair on a bad day.

But she could at least try to work through the kinks and make some sense of it all.

 _Become the arrow_.

She searched deeper, losing herself within the magic of the seal. And that's when she saw it at last—another loose thread in the fabric. Wisps of reiki seized upon this imperfection, twisting it, stretching it, pulling part of the seal away with a brilliant _crack_ —

"That's enough."

Kagome's eyes flew open, his words dousing her like a pitcher of ice-water. She sucked in a breath of air, her right hand still clutching the remnant of his upper arm. As she struggled to regain her bearings, strong fingers seized her wrist, lifting her hand from the stump.

He didn't fling her away from him like last time, but he didn't release her either. She blinked, looking up at him in mild confusion, wondering vaguely at how soft the ground was when suddenly all the color drained from her face.

That was the moment Kagome realized she was sitting in Sesshoumaru's lap.

_What?—how?—ohmygodi'mgonnadie!_

She yelped, toppling over to the side, her hip smacking the hard ground. She pushed herself up with her left hand, her right arm still held firmly in his grip. A tiny gasp escaped her lips when he pressed his clawed thumb against the center of her palm, her fingers uncurling reflexively at the slight prick of pain. Reiki crackled briefly in the air around her fingertips.

"Your skills have improved," he remarked lowly, studying her open hand with interest.

Kagome watched him in growing discomfort, fighting the urge to squirm under the intensity of his regard.

"Why did you stop me?" she asked in a soft, wary voice, warmth rising faintly in her cheeks.

It was a bold move to interrogate the Lord of the Western Lands, but the question had been burning on the tip of Kagome's tongue for almost twenty-four hours straight—since the first time he'd forcibly halted her progress last night.

Sesshoumaru was a logical creature. He was the poster-boy for stoic rationalists everywhere. Yet it made absolutely no sense why he would deliberately interrupt her when she'd finally started to make some headway toward lifting the curse. Not only that, he'd done it _twice_.

All his behavior up until now had been perfectly reasonable. He'd sought out Kagome in order to break the seal because it was preventing the regeneration of his own arm and killing any other youkai arms he affixed to the stump. A logical, practical course of action. As time had passed, he'd started coming to her with increasing regularity, their nighttime meetings slowly becoming _nightly_ meetings. Kagome could understand that, too. Her miko abilities had sharpened, and he was probably impatient to have his arm back once and for all. Maybe he was starting to fall behind on his to-do list of killing and maiming.

Whatever the reason, Kagome could understand his urgency. She was fairly eager to have this whole ordeal behind her as well. So, _why_? Why all this 'hurry up and wait'?

Deep yellow eyes slid from her hand to her face. For a heartbeat he held her gaze, and Kagome could see that his was shadowed, dark with something that had nothing to do with the lateness of the hour. Gooseflesh rose on her skin. Absurdly, she found herself wishing for a pair of jeans instead of her short green skirt.

She felt vulnerable, exposed. Her blood stirred once again with that strange, primal fear. Something had changed between them. Something had taken place last night which had altered the dynamic of their weird relationship.

 _Or maybe this is how it's been all along_ , a voice of doubt whispered in her mind, _only you've been too dumb to see it._

An eternity seemed to pass as he stared at her in that darkly contemplative way. No one had ever looked at her like that before. It was similar to anger, but _deeper_ somehow…brooding—like the silence that had descended on her earlier that day during her bike ride.

Was it…hatred?

"You should rest, miko."

Unceremoniously, he dropped her wrist, and Kagome fell backward with an "oomph!" He rose to his feet in one fluid motion, not a single blade of grass marring the pearly white silk of his hakama. Kagome, on the other hand, could see little twigs and leaf bits stuck to the sleeves of her cardigan, and there might very well be a spider web caught in her hair. She scowled, still sitting there with her bare legs askew in the underbrush.

 _The universe is just so unfair_ , she grumbled inwardly. How could it bestow such spotless perfection on a crazy, violent jerk like him?

"I will return for you in three days' time," he announced as he began to walk away. At the edge of the small clearing he paused, casting a sharp glance at her over his shoulder, the ghost of a smirk on his lips. "Don't keep me waiting when I do."

Kagome's jaw clenched as she watched him disappear into the depths of the woods. _What a prick!_

It was a while before she picked herself up off the ground and trudged back to the village. Nestled beneath the covers of her futon once again, Kagome inspected her palm in a shaft of moonlight from the window. In the center was a tiny red dot where the tip of his claw had pierced her skin.

 _At this rate, I'll_ never _be able to get rid of that stupid seal_ , she thought bitterly. _Why can't he see that?_

The idea that the daiyoukai might be trying to prolong their time together didn't occur to Kagome. _The_ Sesshoumaru, stalling on _her_ account? Such a notion was too ridiculous—too _dangerous_ —to contemplate. If she started thinking along _those_ lines, she'd have to revisit that look of his again, and Kami knows what kind of havoc that might wreak on her neatly-ordered worldview.

So she lay her hand down against the futon and let out a tired sigh.

She'd save those thoughts for another day.


	2. Chapter Two

**Chapter Two**

Sesshoumaru tore through the night sky in his true form, massive paws trampling down the clouds which obscured the moon's sallow face. His powerful lungs drank deeply from the frigid air around him, purging away the last traces of her maddening scent.

If only the haze of memory could be so easily dispelled.

In his mind she still lay sprawled before him, her strange, inadequate clothing scarcely covering past the swell of her hips, moonlight ghosting over her naked thighs. Her voice was soft with caution as she addressed him, her pulse fluttering like moth wings beneath her delicate skin.

" _Why did you stop me?"_

The daiyoukai growled low in his throat.

Foolish girl. It was clear she mistook the frequency of his visits for desperation. As if his power could be so greatly diminished by the absence of one limb. Ally and enemy alike still quailed before him. None was his equal. His supremacy over the Western Lands remained unrivalled and unquestioned.

No. This had never been about the arm.

It had been about the defiant flash in her eyes as she'd leveled his father's sword against him. It had been about the determined set of her jaw, the heady thrum of power in her blood, the indescribable threat that had suddenly presented itself in human form.

"What _are_ you?" he had demanded in dark wonder.

Even now, months later, Sesshoumaru could not say.

Crimson eyes glared down at the tiny village below him. In one of those miserable hovels the miko would be sleeping soundly, her mind as free as his was imprisoned.

Since that day in the demon's graveyard, she had become a plague upon his thoughts. Lying alone on the rocky ground, bloody and maimed and disgraced, her insolent face had been all he could see, her voice a ceaseless, taunting echo in his ears. Inuyasha may have been the one to sever his arm, but he could never have wielded Tessaiga without that damnable girl. Miko, sorceress _—_ whatever she was _—she_ had been the one responsible for Sesshoumaru's defeat. _She_ had done this to him.

And she would answer for it.

After his wounds had closed, the daiyoukai had sought out the source of his torment, watching her from a distance, her blunted senses none-the-wiser to his presence. Huddled near a campfire, the girl before him had born little resemblance to the detestable phantom conjured from his fevered memories.

Her azure eyes had gleamed like jewels in the reflected heat of the flames, the faint red bow of her lips curving into a smile as she'd gazed down at the kitsune cub dozing in her lap. Sesshoumaru remembered how the firelight had warmed her fair skin and lent a muted glow to the dark hair tumbling freely down her back and shoulders, its clean scent drifting toward him on the breeze.

Immune though he had believed himself to be, the daiyoukai had never been ignorant to the charms of mortal flesh. Hadn't that woman Izayoi been lovely as well?

Sesshoumaru had been unfortunate enough to hear them rutting once—Izayoi and his father—and the shameful sound of it had forever tarnished the daiyoukai's opinion of the Inu no Taishou.

 _Chichi-ue,_ he mused now in scorn, staring up at the cold, brittle stars. _Did you know those breathy sighs were heralding your doom?_

_Did you even care?_

For what seemed like hours, Sesshoumaru had studied the miko through the simmering haze of the campfire, the fever of her magic burning beneath his skin. His wretched stump had throbbed viciously, his features darkening in pain.

Nothing about her had stricken him as particularly remarkable. He had encountered far more capable priestesses than she, yet none had succeeded in laying so much as a scratch on his armor, let alone afflicting him with a lingering curse. He had simply been careless during the battle. In underestimating his half-brother's ability to wield Tessaiga, he must have provided her with an opening as well.

As he'd stood there seething, the miko had glanced abruptly in his direction, stilling the air in his lungs. He had concealed his youki perfectly—she should never have been able to detect him. Yet her head had tilted faintly in question, a slight knit in her brow. Under her scrutiny, the reiki trapped in his mutilated appendage had flared hotly, and Sesshoumaru had bitten back a snarl at its sear.

Clawed fingers had flexed, curling like talons as he'd stalked forward, yet before the circle of firelight could reveal him, he'd sensed a familiar presence approaching quickly through the forest. Amber eyes narrowing to slits, Sesshoumaru had reluctantly turned away from the enigma before him, disappearing into the night.

With each encounter that had followed, his troubling preoccupation with his half-brother's miko had only intensified. Like the seal in his flesh, the thought of her had persisted—an irritating splinter which he could not seem to dislodge. Instead, it had burrowed deeper, leaching black poison into his blood, consuming him from within.

Convinced that her stubborn magic lay at the heart of his madness, he had confronted her at last, threatening to slay her companions if she did not break the enchantment. She had complied, but her obvious lack of training had made progress difficult in the beginning, her slowness affording him ample opportunity to observe her more closely.

Her presence had both soothed and stoked his unsettling fascination, and as her ability to focus reiki had strengthened, his own control had begun to crumble. He had started summoning her with increasing regularity, awaiting their nocturnal meetings with growing impatience. He had found himself anticipating her pleasant scent, the sound of her voice, the warmth of her touch against his cool, scarred skin. He had caught himself gazing at her without reservation as she worked to lift the curse, his eyes tracing the delicate contours of her face, the pale smooth column of her neck, the slenderness of her arms and the fullness of her chest. His traitorous thoughts had wandered further still, sliding beneath the fabric of her unusual clothes, imagining hidden flesh and how it might taste…

Sesshoumaru could no longer deny that he wanted her, and with the resentment that had accompanied that admission, a sinister doubt had surfaced in his mind. A doubt he'd only given voice to in that moment when the miko finally succeeded in destroying a part of the seal.

What if the curse was not the true cause of his fixation? What if this madness persisted even after her magic had been removed?

 _This girl, this_ human _,_ he had thought furiously _, what has she done to me?_

Her disobedience had been the final straw. He had commanded her to stop, and when she'd refused, he had snapped, his careful restraint fast incinerating in the firestorm of his rage. He'd thrown her from him as his eyes had flooded red. For a moment she had simply lain there, prone and fearful, and the beast in him had roared with savage need.

As she'd clambered to her feet, he had seen the raw terror mirrored in her eyes and thought that she would never return to him willingly after that. Throughout the following day, he had pursued her, poised to intercept her if she attempted to flee his lands. Yet she had not fled, and after an agonizing wait, she had answered his summons—wary, but for the most part unafraid. And then, in a curious blend of relief and inexplicable frustration, he had known.

The girl…she had not understood what she'd seen the night before.

This time, after another part of the seal had broken with a thunderous crack, she had obeyed his orders to stop, though not without question. As he'd held her fragile wrist in his hand, he'd felt the creep of that insidious doubt entering his mind once again. Without warning, he had released her and risen to his feet.

He needed time to think about what he would do if the curse turned out not to be the cause of his predicament. He needed space to regain his sense of calm.

He needed to get away from this miko before he did something he would most certainly regret.

"…three days' time," he had told her as he'd left her sitting there unhappily in the dirt.

Three days…

Sesshoumaru dashed across the starry sky, nearing his destination at last. He landed soundlessly at the edge of a wild field, transforming the moment his claws touched the ground. Tall grass swayed around his booted feet, the gentle breeze ruffling through his hair and the silky fur of his pelt. In the distance, Ah-Un slumbered on, his dark bulk rising obtrusively from the plain like a living, breathing boulder.

He had barely taken two steps in the direction of the dragon when he heard an exclamation of delight and saw a small bright creature hurtling toward him, a much duller one in tow.

"Get back here, human!" Jakken wailed, brandishing his wooden staff futilely at the child running ahead of him. "How dare you approach Sesshoumaru-sama without permission!"

The little girl, of course, ignored him. She skidded to a halt only once she had reached a close, yet respectful, distance, staring up at Sesshoumaru with an adoration he had never understood.

She beamed, a few gaps still apparent in the rows of her teeth. "Rin is so happy to see you again, Sesshoumaru-sama!"

Sesshoumaru said nothing, his golden eyes slanting toward Jakken.

"Why," he spoke to the imp, "is Rin awake at this hour?"

Jakken trembled, fumbling with his staff. "Mi-milord, I—"

"Rin wanted to wait up for you, Sesshoumaru-sama," the child interjected in a wavering voice, ducking her head contritely. "Rin is sorry."

"See, milord!" Jakken blabbered. His stubby green finger pointed accusingly at Rin. "It was all _her_ fault, not mine!"

Sesshoumaru's jaw tightened in irritation.

"Jakken," he said quietly.

"Y-yes, milord?"

Bulbous yellow eyes peered up at him hopefully, blinking in question when the shadow of Sesshoumaru's boot fell over his face. The imp barely had time to yelp as the daiyoukai's foot drove him headfirst to the ground.

While his useless vassal spat up a mouthful of earth, Sesshoumaru approached Rin, whose head was still bowed deeply in shame. Even her normally jaunty ponytail seemed to hang limp in remorse. His fingers rested lightly in her dark hair, gently tilting back her head. Large brown eyes looked up at him timidly.

"I am not angry with you," he said, calmly holding her gaze. "Now, go to sleep."

Her face split into another toothy grin. "Hai, Sesshoumaru-sama!"

He watched as she bounded away, tucking herself into Ah-Un's warmth. Without sparing Jakken so much as a backward glance, Sesshoumaru wandered toward a distant corner of the field. Here, the grass grew sparsely, eventually giving way to sheer rock near the jagged edge of a cliff.

Pebbles skittered across stone as Sesshoumaru stepped up to the very edge, his eyes and thoughts fixing upon a point in the distance. In the butchered remains of his left arm, he registered a subtle twinge.

These next three days, he mused darkly, might well prove to be the longest in his very long life.

**xXxXxXx**

Higurashi Kagome had never felt better.

Of course, that was a bit of an overstatement. But her mood _had_ improved a great deal over the past two days. Two wonderful, Sesshoumaru-free days.

She sighed happily, leaning back against the smooth bark of a maple tree. They had been wending their way toward Edo village when a bout of weakness had forced Kikyou—and by extension the rest of the group—to halt their travels for the day. Not that Kagome was complaining. Normally, Inuyasha drove them onward at a breakneck pace, and it was nice to finally have some time to relax and enjoy the scenery for a change.

It was a beautiful afternoon in early spring. Life had returned to the dead winter landscape, painting it in broad strokes of green. Soft new grass tickled at Kagome's bare legs. On a thin stalk near her shoe, an inquisitive beetle perched precariously, seeming to consider whether or not it should make the jump. As the insect wavered, Kagome's gaze shifted elsewhere.

In the near distance, Shippou was chasing a kitten-sized Kirara through a crop of wildflowers, leaving a cloud of scattered petals in his wake, while Miroku and Sango busied themselves with building a fire. Kagome watched them exchange a few friendly smiles and glances, but from the way the monk kept eyeing Sango's backside when she wasn't looking, Kagome knew the peace wasn't going to last.

Sure enough, only minutes later, a resounding _smack_ split the quiet air, setting the birds at the edge of the forest to flight. Somewhere amidst the shadows of those ancient trees, Kikyou would be absorbing the souls of freshly-departed young women, Inuyasha no doubt crouched loyally at her side as he waited for his lover to regain her strength.

Kagome wondered what sort of feast Kikyou's shinidamachu would bring her this time. How many souls would it take to satisfy that clay body of hers? Over the past few weeks, her appetite seemed to have grown. Perhaps all the extra activity she was engaging in was starting to take its toll…

Forcibly, Kagome derailed that train of thought. She found herself immensely grateful for the space separating her from that particular pair of lovebirds, although in that moment she didn't think even the Bone-Eater's Well could take her far enough away from them for her peace of mind.

Desperate for any sort of distraction, Kagome began rifling through the fat yellow backpack at her hip. It had been days since she'd even thought about studying. She consulted her schedule planner. Just as she'd feared, she had a mock high school entrance exam coming up in exactly one week. The exam subjects were math and English—her least favorites by far.

Kagome glowered. With a heavy sigh, she extracted her notebook and textbooks. At least she'd be able to get a few good hours of studying in before sundown. Past experience had taught her that reading geometry proofs by firelight was as good a sleep aid as any of Granny Kaede's herbal concoctions, and Kagome had an appointment later this evening. Somehow she doubted Sesshoumaru would be amused to find her once again sleeping through his summons.

 _Kami help me if I keep His Highness waiting for more than a second_ , she grumbled inwardly, dropping her stack of study materials in her lap. Steeling herself as if for battle, she chose the greater of two evils and cracked open her math notebook first.

_Nose to the grindstone, Higurashi._

Pencil between her teeth, Kagome flipped through the pages, finding the beginning of the photocopied class notes Ayumi had given her during her last visit home. For a good half hour, she poured over theorem after theorem, blue eyes constantly flicking back and forth between the figures in the text and her teacher's commentary, captured in Ayumi's small, neat hand.

 _If lines A and B are parallel and line C intersects line A at angle theta, then angle phi must be equal to angle theta—no wait, it's 180 degrees_ minus _angle theta, right?_ Kagome's nails scraped her scalp as she clutched at her hair in frustration. _Why can't I keep all these stupid rules straight?!_

She turned back a page in the notes. As her eyes skimmed the page for the relevant theorem, she saw something scribbled in the margin which she hadn't noticed before. A little arrow connected the scribbled note to Theorem 4A: 'Make sure to know this for the exam next week!'

Kagome blinked. " _Next_ week?"

A jolt of panic shot through her. She snatched up her discarded planner, leafing through it furiously. The date she'd marked down for the mock exam was one week later than Ayumi's notes seemed to indicate. Could her friend have written 'next week' by mistake? Kagome considered it highly unlikely. Ayumi was the most diligent person Kagome knew, and one of the top students in their class besides. No, if anyone had made a mistake here, it was Kagome herself.

Which meant that her first high school mock entrance exam…was only two hours away.

Cramming her school things into her backpack, Kagome sprang to her feet, hefting the straps over her shoulders as she rose. She sprinted awkwardly toward the campfire, a look of unadulterated horror on her face.

Seeing her in such a state, Sango and Miroku leapt up from the ground, weapons at the ready.

"A youkai ambush, Kagome-sama?" Miroku inquired grimly. The bright red handprint on his cheek somewhat detracted from his air of grave concern.

"No—it's much worse!" Kagome breathed, skidding to a halt. "Kirara!"

Already transformed, the firecat flew to Kagome's side. Feral red eyes regarded her questioningly.

"Kirara, would you mind taking me home?" Kagome asked hurriedly. "It's an emergency."

The cat youkai rumbled in assent. With a quick thanks, Kagome climbed onto Kirara's back—a task made somewhat difficult by the load of textbooks she was carrying over her shoulders. As they prepared to take off, she felt a light touch on her wrist and glanced down to see Sango looking at her in worry.

"Kagome-chan," the taijiya said softly, dark brown eyes carefully searching Kagome's blue ones. "Did you…see something in the woods?"

"Eh?" Kagome blinked. "See something…?"

Besides youkai, what else could Kagome have seen that would send her running away in a panic? And then it dawned on her.

Oh. Inuyasha and Kikyou.

 _She's worried I'm not going to come back this time_ , Kagome realized with a pang.

She shook her head, managing a queasy smile. "Don't worry, Sango-chan. I'll be back soon. There's just something I have to take care of right now."

Still not seeming entirely reassured, Sango released her. "Safe travels, then, Kagome-chan."

Kagome nodded as Kirara took abruptly to the sky. Cold air lashed at her cheeks as they rose, whipping back her hair. The ground below them soon blurred as they sped onward toward the Bone-Eater's Well.

Every few seconds, Kagome checked her watch, her anxiety growing with each passing minute. Sweat broke out across her skin, and she silently apologized to Kirara for all the salt she was leaking onto her fur.

It was a solid hour before they began to descend toward Edo village. At the sight of Goshinboku, Kagome sighed wearily in relief.

They touched down a few feet from the well, Kagome's hop from Kirara's back really more of a fall. Picking herself up off the ground, she scrambled over to the portal. Her backpack felt like a ton of bricks.

"Bye, Kirara—thanks again!" she yelled without looking back, hoisting herself over the ledge and into the present.

Through a haze of brilliant purple light, the Modern Era rushed up to meet her. Kagome landed feet first with an "oomph!" She blinked as her eyes adjusted to the dim light of the shrine, hands groping for the rung of a ladder.

"Kagome dear, is that you?" her mother's voice rang out above her.

"Hai, Mama!" Kagome called back.

Her fingers found the first rung, and she started to climb. Above her, Mrs. Higurashi's kind face peeked over the edge of the well, her brow wrinkled in concern.

"I was so worried you'd forgotten about your exam," she said as Kagome at last stepped onto the wooden floor of the shrine. "Your friends came by a while ago looking for you."

Kagome groaned. _So it's true…I really do have an exam to take!_

"I _had_ forgotten, Mama," she admitted reluctantly.

Crouching to the floor right on the spot, she emptied her backpack of the heavy textbooks and notebooks. They wouldn't be of any help to her now.

Her mom leaned the broom she'd been holding against the wall, turning toward the door.

"I'll go get my car keys, dear."

"No, Mama," Kagome said impatiently, shouldering her considerably lightened backpack as she stood. "Thanks, but with this traffic, it'll be a lot faster if I just bike there."

"Are you sure?"

Kagome nodded, dashing past her with a wave. "See you in a few hours!"

Through the open door, Kagome spied her mother's bike standing near the side of the house. She ran over to it at once, knocking back the kickstand as she swung herself into the seat. Forgoing the shrine steps for obvious reasons, she veered off to the right where an almost invisible side path curved past Goshinboku and down the hill to the street.

"Banzai!" she heard her mother shouting after her. Despite herself, Kagome smiled, picking up speed crazy fast as she barreled downward to the sidewalk below.

Her front tire met the pavement with a _bang_ , and Kagome swerved hard to the right to avoid launching herself into the street. Her legs pumped like steel pistons as she hurtled onward, pedaling as though her life depended on it. Although in way, she supposed it did.

 _My future is here_ , she thought with a heavy heart. _In this world._

Luckily, the testing center was within biking distance of Kagome's house. If she'd had to take the train, she would've really been in trouble. As it was though, Kagome arrived at her destination with fifteen minutes to spare. Clumsily securing her mother's bike to the rack outside, she stumbled over to the entrance, all but falling against the cold glass door.

She entered the examination room still breathing like a winded rhinoceros. What she must have looked like to her surprised classmates, she had no idea. Wordlessly, she handed her exam slip over to the proctor, who was glaring at her in stern disapproval. His thin lips pursed as he scanned the slip with beady black eyes, yet after a moment, he directed her to an empty desk.

Kagome collapsed into her seat, digging her pencils and calculator out of her bag. The other students were already filling out the diagnostics portion of the exam, and Kagome rushed to catch up with them. Her dirty, sweaty fingers made gripping her pencil straight a challenge, and she winced visibly at the smudges now marring her answer sheet.

 _Well, this is certainly getting off to a great start_ , she mused sourly, propping her chin up with her free hand.

Needless to say, the exam was a total disaster. Afterwards, Kagome left the testing center in a daze, looking as though she'd just survived some sort of war.

"Cheer up, Kagome-chan!" Eri said brightly, linking her arm through Kagome's as they walked over to the bike rack. "It's only a mock exam, you know."

 _Easy for you to say_ , Kagome thought glumly.

Her friends in the Modern Era still had no idea about her life in Sengoku Jidai. Kagome had considered telling them many times, but to be honest, she just didn't know how she could do so without sounding like a lunatic. Still, she wished that they could somehow understand, that they would know how hard she was trying to remain a part of this world. How difficult it was for her to do even the simplest things like homework or showing up for a test on time.

"Well, anyway, I've got to go catch my train!" Eri said, releasing Kagome as she began to hurry toward the station. "Thanks for the gift, by the way!" she called back over her shoulder. "See you tonight!"

"Gift?" Kagome repeated blankly.

"Don't tell me you've forgotten!"

She turned to find Yuka glaring at her, hands on her hips, Ayumi standing at her side. Kagome looked between the two of them, completely at a loss.

"Kagome-chan," Ayumi chided gently, "today is Eri-chan's birthday, remember?"

Kagome blanched. "Ah…"

"So she _did_ forget," Yuka muttered, her eyes slanting toward Ayumi.

"Don't worry, Kagome-chan," Ayumi said softly. "We know you've been preoccupied with your illness. You weren't even able to come downstairs the day we went shopping for Eri-chan's present, so your mom just gave us your share of the money instead." Her wavy hair bounced as she shook her head in sympathy. "Crohn's disease sounds just awful!"

 _Crohn's disease?_ Kagome wondered. _What the heck has Grandpa been telling them now?_

"Ah, Higurashi!" a familiar voice hailed her from the left. She glanced over to see Hojo making his way toward her, smiling. "I'm glad to see you were feeling well enough to attend the exam." He pulled a small parcel from his pocket. "Please accept this."

"Thanks, Hojo-kun," Kagome responded automatically, taking the box from his hands. Inside was a vial filled with some sort of greenish liquid. "…What is it?"

"An herbal remedy my grandmother told me about," he replied helpfully, raising a finger. "Good for soothing inflamed bowels."

_Inflamed…bowels!?_

Kagome's cheeks burst into flame.

"H-how thoughtful," she stammered, mortified.

Family or not, she was going to _murder_ that old man…

"Well, I'd better get going," he said with a bashful smile, ruffling a hand through his bangs. "See you tonight, I hope?"

Yuka slung an arm around Kagome's rigid shoulders, more than happy to answer for her. "Yep! See you, Hojo-kun!"

As the three girls watched him go, a green sedan drew to a stop in front of the testing center, honking briefly. Ayumi gave an exclamation of surprise.

"Oh! That's my mom. See you this evening," she said, hurrying over to the parked car.

Yuka waved goodbye, but Kagome was still in somewhat of a stupor.

"Wait, what's going on tonight?" she asked Yuka once Ayumi and her mother had driven away, the redness finally starting to recede from her cheeks.

"We're celebrating Eri-chan's birthday, of course!" Yuka said excitedly. "Dinner at Sayuki's followed by karaoke!"

"Oh," Kagome said, perking up, "that sounds— _oh god_ …"

Her jaw slammed shut, blue eyes widening in alarm.

In all the confusion over the mock exam, Kagome had completely forgotten about her meeting with Sesshoumaru this evening.

 _Idiot, idiot, idiot!_ Her mind sang as she cradled her head in her hands.

"Oh _no_ ," Yuka growled, taking Kagome by the arms. "You're not bailing on us this time!"

Kagome looked at her apologetically.

"Yuka-chan," she began, "I'm really sorry, but I can't. I've already promised to meet someone."

Yuka's features darkened. "Someone, huh? And who might that be, Kagome-chan? Your two-timing delinquent boyfriend?"

"That guy was _never_ my boyfriend," Kagome snapped. "And there's nothing between us now."

"Oh really? If not him, who are you going to meet up with then?"

Kagome's jaw clenched.

 _His brother, actually_ , her mind corrected snidely.

But she wasn't about to open _that_ can of worms.

"That's what I thought," Yuka declared, taking Kagome's silence as confirmation. "Well, that scoundrel can keep himself entertained for one night. You've got plans."

Kagome looked at her desperately.

"Yuka-chan, please…"

But Yuka would not be moved. She shook her head, beginning to walk toward the metro station.

"You'd better be there, Kagome-chan! You can't just keep blowing off your closest friends over some loser guy." She paused, glancing back. "Besides, after forgetting Eri-chan's birthday, showing up to the party is the _least_ you can do!"

Kagome knew that Yuka was right. Her friends in the Modern Era were no less important than her friends in Sengoku Jidai, and Kagome knew she hadn't been treating them fairly. Of course, her dealings with Sesshoumaru were literally a matter of life and death for her companions there, but if she continued to neglect her friendships here, Eri, Ayumi and Yuka might, in a way, end up dead to her, too.

She had to go to this party, at least for a little while.

 _It should be okay_ , she told herself as the anxiety began to set in. _Sesshoumaru never calls on me until late at night._

Why would this evening be any different?

**xXxXxXx**

For the most part, Eri's birthday dinner at Sayuki's had gone off without a hitch. Besides Kagome, Eri, Ayumi, and Yuka, Hojo and three of his guy friends had also shown up, which had caused the seating arrangement to become somewhat strategic. In an obvious setup attempt by Yuka, Kagome had, of course, been ushered into a spot next to Hojo, and their dinner conversation had mostly consisted of awkward silences and discussions of Kagome's fabricated medical history.

But the food had been great—even if she'd had to eat it while enduring Hojo's sweet, if embarrassing, attentions. Living off the land and poor villagers' charity had made for some bland meals recently, and it was all Kagome could do not to devour her edamame and curry udon like a hungry savage.

Most importantly, though, it was clear that Eri was enjoying herself, and the knowledge warmed Kagome's heart even as unease prickled at the back of her mind. As they left the izakaya restaurant, she seriously considered just turning heel and fleeing for the well, but one pointed glance from Yuka effectively nipped that notion in the bud, though it did little to quell her turbulent thoughts.

Eyes like liquid gold simmered in the shadow of her memories, a phantom twinge stinging in the center of her palm.

"…Higurashi?"

Kagome jumped as Hojo's hand fell lightly on her shoulder. The rest of the group was several feet ahead of them, and she realized she had just stopped walking in the middle of the street.

"Are you feeling all right?" Hojo's warm brown eyes gleamed with worry. "You're quite pale."

"O-of course!" Kagome replied, forcing a grin. "I was just, uh…thinking about today's mock exam, that's all."

"I see," he said with a nod of understanding. "Try not to dwell on it too much, Higurashi. Such stress can aggravate your condition."

"…Right," Kagome mumbled as she and Hojo resumed their course, quickly catching up with their friends.

A few blocks down, they reached their destination: a popular piano bar which was a personal favorite of Eri's. Even this early in the evening, the bar was already packed with high school and college students, yet they still managed to secure a karaoke room. They played for about an hour, taking turns singing at the mic while the others hung out on the leather couches nearby, talking, laughing and cheering the singer on.

Increasingly, Kagome found herself just going through the motions, hoping she didn't look as much of a nervous wreck as she felt. She accepted a bottle of soda from Hojo with a weak smile. Even without Yuka's machinations, he had continued to stick loyally by her side. He sat down next to her again now, at the end of the couch, and while the rest of their friends were absorbed in watching a comedic duet by Eri and Yuka, he started to speak to her in a low tone.

"Higurashi," he began, Kagome's stomach cart-wheeling at the intent expression on his handsome face, "there's something I've been meaning to ask you…"

Whatever Hojo had been about to say was lost in a roar of applause for Eri and Yuka. Breathless from their performance, the two girls gave an exaggerated bow before returning to the couches, Kagome watching curiously as Yuka extracted something from her purse the moment she sat down.

"Hey everyone," she said, beaming as she waved a bottle of clear liquid from side-to-side, "let's have a drink to celebrate Eri-chan's birthday!"

Her suggestion was met with an enthusiastic cheer, and they began passing the bottle around in a circle. For the sake of camaraderie, Kagome took a tiny sip, cringing as the liquor burned a fiery path down the back of her throat.

"Ugh! Yuka-chan, where did you even get this stuff?" she asked, rinsing her mouth out with soda.

"Found it in my onii-san's room," Yuka answered proudly. "He's not supposed to bring that kind of stuff into the house."

 _And that makes it okay for you_ _to take it?_ Kagome wondered, her brows lifting quizzically.

When the liquor came around a second time, she politely declined. The others weren't so inhibited. By the time the bottle was empty, even shy, quiet Ayumi was giggling uncontrollably, her cheeks flushed red. Kagome gaped at her in shock.

 _No! You're_ _supposed to be the responsible one!_

Karaoke resumed, but the singers' words were so slurred that both audience and performer could barely get through the first twenty seconds of a song without collapsing in a graceless, laughing heap. While their drunken antics were pretty amusing, Kagome was thinking that now might be a good time to slip away. Hojo's friend Yarata spilling a half-full glass of ice water down her back only served to reinforce this line of thinking.

"Well, would you look at the time?" Kagome announced as she stood from the couch, damp shirt sticking uncomfortably to her shoulder blades. "I think I'll call it a night."

"Wait…Kagome-chan," Eri said, taking Kagome by the hand and leaning heavily on her arm. "Please don't go just yet. I've thought of a fun game we can play!"

"A game?"

Eri nodded, her eyes slightly unfocused as she lifted the empty soda bottle clutched in her other hand. She turned herself—and Kagome—toward the rest of the group.

"Who wants to play spin the bottle?" she asked loudly, a devious smile spreading across her face.

A chorus of whistles and cheers rose up from the intoxicated crowd. Kagome just stared.

… _Seriously?_

She sighed. "Eri-chan, I really need to go…"

"Please, Kagome-chan," Eri whined, tugging Kagome back toward her seat. "Just one round, okay?"

Kagome looked into those large, glazed-over eyes and found that she couldn't refuse her.

"…Okay," she relented. "One round."

Several turns later, it looked like Kagome was going to get away scot-free. The bottle hadn't come close to her a single time, opting to favor Eri instead. Even when Yarata's bottle had landed on Hojo, and it had seemed like the two guys would have to kiss, he'd reached over and stolen a kiss from Eri instead, much to her delight.

"It's your turn, Hojo-kun!" Eri giggled, thrusting the bottle into his hands.

For a moment, he looked at it seriously, almost beseechingly, and Kagome reddened in a way that couldn't possibly be blamed on the small amount of alcohol she'd consumed.

The universe had always seen fit to conspire against her. Even before he set the bottle spinning, she knew what the outcome would be.

The open end of the bottle slowed to a stop...

"…It's Kagome!" Yuka proclaimed in triumph, pushing the blue-eyed girl a little too roughly in Hojo's direction.

But Kagome had reached her limit. Refusing to so much as look at Hojo, she jumped to her feet, the sudden change in elevation making her woozy. She hunched over slightly, sweat breaking out faintly across her skin.

"Ka-GUH-gome-chan…" Ayumi hiccupped. "You don't LUH-look so well…"

"Yeah…" Kagome replied, racking her mind for even the flimsiest excuse. "It's…it's my Crohn's."

"Your Crohn's?" Yarata repeated slowly, his brows knitting together in confusion.

"Yeah, it's really flaring up…" Kagome paused, debating whether her freedom was worth the price of her dignity.

 _Oh, to heck with pride!_ she thought in fierce determination. _I've got to get out of here!_

"Flaring up…in my bowels," she finished flatly.

"Eww," Eri said, wrinkling her nose in disgust.

The others more or less mirrored her expression.

"So…I'll just be on my way then, eh heh," Kagome chuckled nervously, backing up. "Umm, and…happy birthday, Eri-chan...you're the best!"

Taking advantage of their delayed reaction time, she made a break for the karaoke room's only exit. Barreling past the door, she moved quickly through the bar, scarcely pausing to breathe until she was outside on the street again.

"Man, that was close…" she whispered, inhaling deeply.

Yet before she could take one step in the direction of the metro station, she heard a familiar voice calling her name.

"Higurashi—wait!"

Kagome stiffened, turning slowly to find Hojo approaching her.

"I wanted…" he trailed off, seeming to have difficulty framing his thoughts. "I wanted to make sure you were all right…"

"I'm fine, Hojo-kun," she responded wearily. "I just need to get home."

He nodded, taking another step toward her. And another. And _another_ , until less than a foot of air lay between them. Before, inside the piano bar, she'd refused to look at him. Now he was giving her no choice. His dark brown hair was slightly mussed, a soft red tinge dusting his high cheekbones. He frowned a little, studying her with an intensity which somehow seemed inexplicably familiar.

She felt her heartbeat quicken. "Hojo-kun…?"

"You're so beautiful," he said quietly, cool fingers trailing over her cheek.

And then he was leaning forward, his mouth pressing gently against her own.

**xXxXxXx**

One subway ride later, Kagome was still blushing.

Her first kiss...

…And it hadn't been Inuyasha.

She entered her home in somewhat of a daze, trying to shake off her unjustified disappointment as she retrieved her backpack from where she'd left it near the door. Hojo was a great guy—smart and handsome and kind. Any girl would be lucky to get a kiss from him.

...And he'd said she was beautiful…

A fresh wave of color lit her cheeks at the memory.

Sure, Kouga called her beautiful every time he saw her, but never with the same conviction—the same _reverence_ —with which Hojo had said it. Even if Kikyou wasn't in the picture, Inuyasha wouldn't have said such a thing to her in a thousand years.

He just wasn't capable of it, the brute.

Once, she'd been under the illusion that it was possible for him to show her such a depth of feeling. Then, when that illusion had been shattered, she'd convinced herself that she was at fault for expecting too much in the first place. He'd twisted her notion of love, her own concept of self-worth. Or, rather, she'd let him.

And, suddenly, Kagome realized that the disappointment she felt was not directed at him, but at herself.

Hojo had given her proof—undeniable evidence that there were men out there in the world capable of caring for her sincerely. She felt like the biggest fool for ever believing she had to settle for the little scraps of affection Inuyasha had occasionally thrown her way.

 _Inuyasha,_ she reflected sadly, tears pricking at the corners of her eyes even as a heavy weight seemed to lift from her soul, _you never deserved my heart_.

"Kagome?"

She turned to find her mother standing a few feet away, drying her hands on her apron.

"Is something troubling you, dear?" she asked gently, smoothing a stray lock of hair behind Kagome's ear.

Kagome shook her head. "No, I…I actually feel a lot better than I have in a while."

For the first time that day, Kagome's smile came straight from the heart.

"That's good to hear," her mother said, the corners of her eyes crinkling faintly. Her gaze fell on the old yellow backpack suspended from Kagome's shoulders. "You're going back now, aren't you?"

Kagome nodded.

Mrs. Higurashi sighed softly. "I thought so." Her arms enfolded Kagome in a warm embrace. "Take care..."

The walk to the shrine passed in the blink of eye. Next to the well, her mother had left Kagome's discarded school things in a neat stack, and she made quick work of stuffing them into her backpack once again.

Maybe they'd prove more useful to her in the future than they had today.

Warm radiance engulfed her as she stepped off the ledge of the ancient well, five hundred years dissolving in the blink of an eye. Finding handholds in chinks in the wall, Kagome began to climb, her heavy backpack becoming more of a nuisance the higher she rose. Eventually, her fingers tangled in a dense nest of vines, and she was able to pull herself over the rim at last.

She'd half-expected to see Sesshoumaru standing there waiting for her with a murderous glare, but the daiyoukai was nowhere in sight. She couldn't sense his youki, either, nor the fragments of her own magic buried deep within his flesh. Starting to believe she'd actually managed to pull this off, Kagome set out toward Edo village. She'd be more comfortable waiting for Sesshoumaru to summon her there.

Inuyasha's Forest was a dangerous place, especially at night. Kagome was reminded of this fact as she tiptoed through the underbrush, trying not to shiver at how sinister the trees looked in the darkness, unfamiliar youki brushing at the edges of her senses.

Just as the trees began to thin, a sudden crunching noise up ahead had Kagome freezing in her tracks. Petrified, she scanned the shadows, her heart lurching violently when she saw them shift, moonlight glinting off a pair of wicked ivory horns.

Kagome watched the horns move up and down over a strange white shape in the distance. As she continued to stare, the crunching sounds softened eerily. Her skin crawled as she tried to place them. They sounded almost… _wet_.

The white shape had lost its original form, becoming stained with pools of black. It moved limply in time with the horns, and with a thrill of terror, Kagome finally realized what it was.

A human body…and the youkai was feeding on its remains.

Kagome clamped a hand over her mouth, bile rising in her throat. Numbly, she retreated a step, her foot snapping on a twig she'd carefully avoided the first time around.

 _How cliché_ , she thought ruefully as the demon paused at the sharpness of the sound, white horns slowly turning in her direction, a pair of glowing red eyes locking with her own.

"Another human…" a gravelly voice rumbled in dark amusement. "What luck…"

Instinctively, Kagome reached behind her for her bow and arrows, cold fear spilling down her spine when she remembered she'd left them back by the campfire. Her heavy bag dropped from her shoulders, but before she could even think to flee, the demon lunged, knocking her onto her back, her breath bursting from her lungs.

Clawed fingers pinned her wrists above her head, a huge, bull-like face looming over her, its black lips pulled back in a grin. Dark blood still dripped from its fangs, splattering across her cheek.

"You're a pretty one…" the youkai jeered, its warm breath thick with the odor of blood and decay. Kagome jerked away as a sharp nail trailed down the side of her face. "Perhaps we can have some fun together before I eat your flesh…"

Kagome's eyes burned. She couldn't die. Not like this. Torn apart by some nameless youkai only a short distance from the safety of the village.

It just wasn't fair!

"What…!?"

With a snarl of pain, the youkai abruptly released her. Before she could even process what had happened, green light was slicing through the darkness, carving up her would-be murderer into chunks of steaming meat.

Kagome scrambled backward, tearing her eyes away from the carnage. When at last she hesitantly returned her gaze to the scene before her, she could see a white-clad figure striding toward her through the darkness, ethereal and proud.

"Sesshoumaru…" she breathed, rising unsteadily to her feet.

Never before had she been so happy to see his marked-up face. Yet as her eyes met his across the shrinking distance, her feeling of elation promptly withered in her chest. Maybe that bull-faced demon hadn't been such bad company, after all.

Sesshoumaru's shining yellow eyes were hostile, narrowed, his mouth a razor-thin line. Around him, his youki whirled and crashed like the wind in a storm.

Unconsciously, Kagome took a step back, swallowing past the lump in her throat.

_Oh, boy…_


	3. Chapter Three

  **Chapter Three**

The Lord of the Western Lands was definitely _not_ in a good mood.

As he stalked nearer, Kagome continued to backpedal, her mind racing as she tried to think of a way to defuse the situation.

"Sesshoumaru… _sama_ ," she began, hastily tacking on the honorific as she raised her hands in supplication, "I'm— _really—_ sorry for showing up late again. I, uh… _oomph_!"

Kagome smacked the ground hard, her legs flying out from under her after she'd tripped over something solid lurking in the undergrowth. Wincing slightly, she rubbed her screaming backside, momentarily forgetting the enraged daiyoukai who was closing in on her, radiating certain death.

A startled gasp escaped her as Sesshoumaru hauled her up by the front of her jacket. Kagome's hands flew to his wrist, blue eyes wide with panic as they met his furious stare.

"Se-Sesshoumaru—" she tried again, before his voice cut hers off in a deadly whisper.

" _Who_ ," the daiyoukai demanded, pulling her closer, " _is he?_ "

Kagome gaped. "What…?"

" _Answer me._ "

Mere inches separated his face from hers. Kagome could see the crimson leaching steadily into his gaze, his features twisted in an expression of pure rage. The only other time she'd seen him look this unhinged had been several days ago, when he'd flung her roughly to the ground at the end of one of their sessions. She'd been almost as clueless then as she was now.

Almost.

"Please," she choked, looking up at him desperately, "I…I have no idea what you're talking about!"

His eyes bore into hers like hot knives. Yet the skin beneath her clammy fingers was surprisingly cool.

It took every ounce of courage Kagome possessed not to look away. Ill-equipped as she felt for a staring contest with _Sesshoumaru_ of all people, some instinct told her to keep staring back at him like her life depended on it.

 _Maybe,_ she thought a tad bit hysterically, _it does._

Just as her eyes began to water beneath the strain, she saw the redness in his own start to fade. His grip on her, however, didn't relax in the slightest.

"The human who covered you in his scent," Sesshoumaru rephrased tersely. His golden eyes lowered, lingering on her lips. "What is he to you?"

Kagome squirmed, unnerved by the force and focus of his gaze. Her mouth ran dry as she struggled to formulate a coherent _thought_ —let alone an answer to his unfathomable question.

 _Why is he acting this way?_ she wondered wildly. _Is he…is he talking about_ Hojo _…?_

"He…" Kagome said, the word coming out somewhat strangled, "he's just a boy I know from back home."

It was a vague answer, but she prayed it would suffice. As always, though, Kagome's prayers seemed to fall on deaf ears.

"Is that so," he stated, his words an icy whisper on her lips.

Kagome stumbled back as he suddenly released her.

His tone wasn't questioning. In fact, he sounded almost _bored_ —but Kagome wasn't fooled. She'd spent enough time in the daiyoukai's company to learn the subtle shades of his displeasure. An almost imperceptible tightening of the jaw. A lightning flash in the mirrored surface of his eyes. A pale shadow darkening his features, throwing their razor sharpness into stark relief.

Intimidating as it was, this was nonetheless familiar territory. Before her was the Sesshoumaru she'd known for months. Cold and unreachable, calculating and perfectly controlled. In all things, including his anger.

 _A mask_ , a small voice whispered knowingly. If Kagome looked hard enough, she could see the cracks in it even now.

Yet she suppressed that knowledge along with the shiver that accompanied it and allowed herself to pretend that he was still the same. Wasn't there some saying about 'the devil you know…'?

"And where, exactly, is your home, miko?"

The question carried with it the faintest hint of accusation. Deep yellow eyes swept over her form, taking in the sight of her loafers and blue jeans, the cut of her white cotton blouse and brown leather jacket—both of which she now attempted to straighten, her fingers a little fidgety under the scrutiny of his eerily reflective gaze.

"I've often wondered." There was a distinct edge to his seemingly quiet speculation.

Still, Kagome felt more confident before him now than she had earlier this evening. She crossed her arms over her chest, looking at him stubbornly.

"My home," she answered, "is very far away from here."

 _And that's all you need to know_ , she thought warily.

Revealing the secret of her time travels to her friends in Sengoku Jidai was one thing. They were her trusted companions, and most of them were human, besides. Morbid as it was, the fact remained that they'd all be dead long before her time. Sesshoumaru, on the other hand, was an immortal youkai, and far from friendly. He could very well live to see the Modern Era, and if she let it slip now that she was from the future, who knew what kind of havoc that could wreak on the order of the universe?

This secret was more important than satisfying the curiosity of one powerful demon. It was more important than the stab of fear that pierced Kagome at Sesshoumaru's measured approach. It was more important than her very life, than all the lives of her friends put together.

More important, even, than seeing to the end of the Shikon Jewel.

The lines of her face betrayed this importance, and though Kagome could not possibly know it, she bore a stronger resemblance to Midoriko in that one look than Kikyou ever had.

And so when Sesshoumaru stepped up to her, gold eyes glaring as he towered over her by almost a foot, Kagome held her ground.

"Take me there," he said. It was clearly _not_ a request.

Yet Kagome boldly raised her chin.

"No," she replied, blue eyes glinting like chips of glass, "it's not a place where you can go."

 _At least_ , Kagome mused, thinking suddenly of his _brother' s_ ability to traverse the well, _I hope not_.

Apparently, this had been the wrong thing to say.

Clawed fingers shot out, clamping around her upper arm like iron bands. Kagome flinched, gritting her teeth against the pain. Futilely, she attempted to wrench her arm away, Sesshoumaru's grip merely tightening in response. Kagome stilled as she felt the tips of his claws biting through the supple leather of her jacket.

" _This_ Sesshoumaru," he stated, a low, threatening rumble in his voice, "goes wherever he pleases, human."

Maybe it was bravery. Maybe it was stubborn pride or reckless abandon or the outcome of almost a solid year of disappointment and frustration. Maybe it was simply the loathing in the word "human."

Whatever it was, it gave Kagome the wherewithal to crane back her neck, look him squarely in the eye, and say, with as much steel as she could muster:

"I said, _no_."

**xXxXxXx**

It was rare that the daiyoukai of the Western Lands found himself at a loss.

He could count on one hand the number of humans before her who had dared to so openly defy him.

All of them, of course, were dead.

Yet this girl had defied him at every turn. Since the day he'd first encountered her, glaring up at him from Inuyasha's side, she had been nothing but insolent. In her words, in her actions—as if she lacked the basic sense of self-preservation that kept all other humans in check in his presence.

He thought of Rin, a mere child, and how quick she was to acquiesce to his slightest command. She behaved waywardly on occasion, but such acts, he knew, were never an attempt to flout his authority. They were borne from Rin's youthful curiosity and, more often than not, from her deep affection for Sesshoumaru himself. As such, he found her disobedience amusing rather than insulting.

But the miko was no child. He was unpleasantly reminded of this fact every time he laid eyes on her. The lack of respect she showed him could not be attributed to the ignorance of youth or, he thought acidly, to any sort of misguided affection on her part. There was nothing amusing about her willfulness, and nothing to excuse it.

It was insane, preposterous even, the way she behaved toward him. Perhaps the only thing more absurd than her defiance was his tolerance of it. And yet, here they stood.

"I should kill you," he said to her in a low voice, the words tasting bitter in his mouth.

_I should have killed you long ago._

He could smell her apprehension, feel the rush of her blood in her veins. He heard the hitch in her breath, the waver in her voice even as she curled her hand into an unsteady fist at her side.

"Go ahead, then, if that's what you want," she responded, the air around them stirring faintly, stinging like the magic buried in his wasted arm. "I won't reveal anything else to you about my home."

It was there again, in the gleam of her eyes. That same, inscrutable look which had sealed his fate months ago in the resting place of his father. How often had he summoned it to mind in the days thereafter? An image which had festered, blossoming into obsession. A relentless torment. A dark and secret pleasure.

 _Dangerous_ —yet somehow those large expressive eyes of hers had failed to perceive it. She was as oblivious to her effect on him as she was to her own spiritual power, humming in the stillness around them. His gaze fell, dwelling on the creamy stretch of skin below her jaw. How easy it would be, to accept her challenge, to wrap his fingers around her delicate throat and squeeze until the light faded from her infuriating eyes. Then he thought of how she'd managed to survive the deluge of his poison in the demon graveyard, to emerge relatively unscathed from every attack he'd thrown at her and Inuyasha ever since, and suddenly, Sesshoumaru wasn't so sure.

It seemed there was little he _could_ be sure of, wherever this wretched girl was concerned.

"Very well," he said with no particular inflection, golden eyes flicking to blue as his fingers relinquished their hold. "You may keep your precious secrets, priestess."

Clutching at her freed arm, the miko blinked at him in surprise. "Huh?"

She regarded him inquisitively, dark glossy hair flowing down her left shoulder as she tilted her head to the side. Her look was far more appraising than Sesshoumaru liked. The corner of his jaw lifted as he stepped back, somewhat more at ease with those few extra inches of space between them.

"After all," he began again smoothly, smirking a little as he started to turn away, "I doubt you have anything of interest to hide."

He could almost feel the heat of her glare. His smirk deepened as he took a few steps toward the edge of the forest.

"Wait a second!"

Sesshoumaru paused, glancing back at her coolly. One brow arched in question.

She _had_ been glaring at him, but his cold regard effectively damped the fire in her gaze. He watched as she deflated, her cheeks still flushed in a manner he found entirely too appealing.

"Um…" she said hesitantly, her eyes flitting to his empty sleeve, "what about your arm? Didn't you want me to work on the seal tonight?"

"Tomorrow, perhaps," Sesshoumaru answered in a bored tone, running his claws idly through the long silky strands of his hair. "See to it that you bathe in the meantime, miko. The smell of that human offends me."

Flicking his hair over his shoulder, Sesshoumaru continued on his way, leaving the girl there to seethe. The sun would rise soon. Most of the youkai who preyed upon human flesh would be returning to their lairs to slumber. He trusted the priestess had enough sense to reach the village now without incident.

Sesshoumaru frowned as he moved through the trees. On a whim, he doubled back in a sweeping circle, following the miko's fading scent to the edge of a small clearing. To his right stood Goshinboku, the tree to which Inuyasha had been confined for almost half a century. A small gash remained where the dead priestess's arrow had pierced the aged bark.

The miko's trail continued ahead of him, ending at an old, dried-up well in the center of the clearing. The Bone-Eater's Well, he seemed to recall. Indeed, as he peered past the mass of vines covering the ledge, he discerned a collection of bones—both human and youkai—littering the dusty bottom.

Sesshoumaru vaulted the ledge, landing lightly amidst the scattered remains. He trailed his claws over the banked dirt and stone as his senses extended outward. There was an echo of magic in this place, a blend of reiki and youki alike. Instantly, the daiyoukai was reminded of the Shikon no Tama.

 _Perhaps the magic of this well is linked to that of the Jewel_ , he considered, eyes narrowing. _But what is the nature of its power?_

The girl's scent vanished inexplicably beneath his feet. If this well was in fact a portal, as Sesshoumaru suspected, it showed no sign of granting him passage. The magic remained dormant; the way forward, steadfastly barred.

Poisoned fingertips tips curled, carving trenches in a hunk of solid stone. _How irritating._

Sesshoumaru crouched, leaping to the top in a single spring. Shaking the dust from his pelt, he eyed the wooden ledge, contemplating the well and its traveler. That girl was as much a mystery to him now as she had ever been. The Bone-Eater's Well was yet another infuriating riddle of hers, another tantalizing unknown.

Three days had not been enough time for him to come to terms with her. Reluctantly, Sesshoumaru conceded that he may never understand what she was or why her effect on him was so profound.

How effortlessly she brought him to the edge of reason. When he'd seen that bull-faced youkai pin her to the ground, stinking of blood and arousal, he had lashed out instinctively, whips of pure energy materializing at his fingertips, slicing through bone and sinew as easily as air—impotent, in comparison with the white-hot fury that had flared within him when he'd detected another male scent beneath that of the dead youkai.

If she had confirmed his suspicions, if she had looked away even once…

Sesshoumaru's gaze hardened, his hand clenching into a fist. He could not say what he might have done in that moment. So much seemed uncertain. Yet one thing he knew.

This, he vowed.

Golden eyes lifted, glaring up at the cold, pitiless moon.

 _I will_ not _become my father._

**xXxXxXx**

Hair still damp from her trip to the stream, Kagome plopped down on Granny Kaede's porch step and basked in the warmth of the sun. Deft fingers sifted through the dark, heavy strands, loosening tangles, while Kagome watched the villagers go about their morning activities. Seeing her, a few of them bowed briefly, though she had to wonder if those bows were really intended for her.

With her own clothes drying on a rack, Kaede had lent Kagome her old miko's garb to wear in the meantime. Kagome had brought a few extra outfits, but she knew her modern clothes made the villagers uncomfortable. Besides, she kind of liked the white kimono shirt, with its long flowing furisode, and the bright red hakama. The only things she wasn't too keen on were the comparisons such an outfit inevitably drew.

Decked out in the traditional attire of a Shinto priestess, Kagome was a dead-ringer for Kikyou. Of course, her eyes were grayish blue instead of brown, her hair a little thicker and wavier than Kikyou's sleek, straight tresses, but even from a short distance, these differences were easily overlooked.

Kagome sighed. She stretched out her legs, toes peeping out from under the hem of her hakama. They wiggled, shiny pink nail polish reflecting the rays of the sun.

 _Way cuter than Kikyou's_ , Kagome thought smugly.

There was a rustle behind her. Kagome turned to see Granny Kaede emerging from her hut, the heavy noren curtain swinging shut in the doorway. In her hands was a wooden short bow, identical to the one Kagome had unwittingly abandoned yesterday.

"Thought I heard ye return," the old lady greeted gruffly. Most people said 'hello', but not Kaede. She nodded brusquely toward the woods in the distance. "At the edge of yon forest, demon crows have come to roost." The bow dropped into Kagome's lap. "A fine opportunity, methinks, to test thy skill."

Bow in hand, Kagome donned her wooden sandals and followed Kaede to the outskirts of the village, where the trees of Inuyasha's Forest began to thicken. Just as the old priestess had described it, a flock of crow youkai had taken up residence among the heavy boughs of an ancient oak. The tree presided over a small vegetable garden, the owners of which stood a good distance back, eyeing the demons warily. The young wife in particular had a forbidding expression on her face as she clasped her toddler's pudgy fingers in her own.

Unlike the birds they resembled, these crows had a taste for human flesh.

"Miko-sama!" the husband cried in relief as he saw them approach. He ran over, almost falling on his face when he dropped into a bow. "Thank you for coming!"

"No thanks needed," Kaede grunted, not unkindly. "Take ye and the others inside, now, Akito. We shall rid ye of these accursed crows."

The young man nodded, topknot bobbing enthusiastically. "Of course, Kaede-sama. Right away!"

Akito hurried over to his wife and daughter and led them to a hut near the garden's edge. When they were safely inside, Kaede fixed Kagome with a grave look.

"Prepare thyself, child." The old woman shifted, leaning a bit more heavily on her walking stick. "They sense the presence of the Jewel."

But Kagome didn't need Granny Kaede to clue her in on that. Twenty or so triplets of blood red eyes were riveted on the spot just below her neck, where a small chunk of the Shikon no Tama hung suspended from a fine silver chain. During her visit home, Kagome had stored their small cache of Jewel fragments in a pouch in her backpack, but here in the youkai-filled past, she had learned to be more careful, and the shards scarcely left her person.

After all, hadn't it been a demon crow just like these, whose theft of the Jewel had started all this trouble in the first place?

"Yeah," Kagome said, a determined glint in her eye as she nocked an arrow and drew the bowstring back past her cheek, "I'm ready."

_It's payback time, birdbrains._

Kagome took careful aim, the tip of her arrow glowing faintly pink. Eyes narrowed in concentration, she loosed her fingers and let the arrow fly—

—straight into a tree branch above her target's head.

"Oops…" she muttered, fumbling for another arrow. At her side, Kaede gave a weary sigh.

All along the ancient boughs, dark wings began to ruffle. As one, the flock of demons took to sky, temporarily eclipsing the sun. Kagome's next arrow met its mark, but the bird youkai were on them an instant later, swooping and screeching—a swirling confusion of sharp talons and serrated beaks.

Kaede had driven her stick into the ground to create a barrier, and the demons seared as they crashed against the dome of light, the smell of charred feathers soon choking the air. Coughing a little, Kagome readied her bow, struggling to find a decent shot. The demons were moving almost too fast for her eyes to follow, let alone her hands.

 _Focus, miko_ , a stern voice echoed in her mind. It took Kagome a moment to realize that it wasn't her own.

She closed her eyes, and suddenly, she was there again, in that familiar place of calm. Within her, reiki ebbed and flowed like an ocean tide, and she drew upon it, using her magic to guide the blazing arrowhead straight into her enemy's tiny black heart. Kagome's eyes flew open as the crow fell with a bloodcurdling shriek, the lower half of its body blasted away.

"Aye, that's it!" Kaede shouted, sweat beginning to bead on her wrinkled brow. "Now, see ye to the rest!"

Kagome tapped into the well of her power again, felling a demon with every shot. She'd dispatched about half the crows when the remaining ones began to whirl away. Yet before Kagome could smile in triumph, a high-pitched scream pierced the air.

" _Kimiko!_ "

Kagome spun around, taking in the whole scene behind her in one panicked glance. There was the husband, standing frozen in the doorway, an expression of mute terror on his face; the young woman, stumbling through the muddy field, arms outstretched and wailing hysterically; the little girl, stranded just beyond reach, her eyes wide with wonder as she approached the shining bubble of Kaede's barrier on toddling footsteps. And there were the crows—not retreating as Kagome had thought, but circling around, careening toward this newer, easier target.

There was no time to fire ten arrows—there was barely time to fire one. Kagome drew back so fast she thought the string might snap, flinging open the floodgates of her psyche as she never had before. The arrow flared like a miniature sun, a swathe of brilliant light streaking behind it as it intercepted the vicious crows, obliterating the entire flock in a single, fiery sweep.

Kagome collapsed to her knees in the damp earth, the bow sliding weakly from her grasp. Kaede let her rest there for a few minutes before helping her to her feet.

"Ye did well, child," the old priestess said, wrapping Kagome's arm around her shoulders, a thoughtful frown creasing her weathered face. "Well, indeed…"

Together, they walked over to the middle of the garden, where the young woman knelt sobbing as she clutched her daughter Kimiko to her chest. Blank-faced and pale, Akito stood off to the side, apparently still recovering from his shock. Kagome figured that witnessing your daughter almost get torn apart by a flock of bloodthirsty demons could have that effect on a man.

"I only turned my back on Kimi for a moment, and she was _gone_ ," Akito's wife said, raising her tearstained face. A few dark strands of hair had escaped from the red kerchief covering her head. "But _you_ … " She gazed at Kagome in something like awe. "I had not believed the tales were true, but after seeing such power firsthand…" She trailed off, biting her lip as she bowed her head over Kimiko's dark pigtails. "…Thank you, Kikyou-sama. We are forever in your debt."

Kaede stiffened, but Kagome was too tired to take offense. She just sighed.

"No problem."

Having her abilities mistaken for Kikyou's legendary strength hardly seemed like something to complain about, anyway.

As the pair of priestesses slowly made their way back to the village, a strained silence hung between them. Kagome kept feeling like Kaede was glancing at her out of the corner of her eye, although judging by the patch that covered it, this seemed pretty unlikely.

"Thy skills have improved," the elderly miko finally commented as they sat down to eat lunch in her hut. "That last arrow ye fired was some sight."

"…thanks," Kagome mumbled past a mouthful of stew.

There seemed to something on Kaede's mind, something that had been bothering her since the end of their excursion to the edge of town. Kagome wished she'd just spit it out already, but the words that left the old miko's mouth moments later had her quickly regretting that wish.

"Has my sister been instructing ye?"

Kagome set her wooden bowl down with a clatter.

"No," she bit out, blue eyes staring sullenly at her lap.

The idea of training with Kikyou galled Kagome to the core. She spent as little time around the dead priestess as she possibly could. That woman had nearly stolen her soul! Not to mention the damage she'd done to her self-esteem…

But Kagome had no right to take this out on Kaede. It only made sense that she'd be curious about what had prompted Kagome's sudden turnabout in skill. However, admitting the truth—that she'd been guided by the words of her inner Sesshoumaru—would just sound weird. And, probably, insane.

"No, it's just that, well…" She looked up at Kaede, a crooked smile pulling at her lips. "I guess I finally took your advice to heart and learned how to change my perspective."

"Perspective, ye say…" Kaede muttered. Her aged brows drew together in consternation.

Kagome's smile faltered. "You know, all that stuff you told me about 'becoming the arrow'…?"

"Aye, that," her elder remembered with a wave. "'Twas just some fancy talk I picked up from a traveling monk. Nothing else seemed to be getting through to ye, so I thought I'd give it a try."

"Oh," Kagome said, her shoulders falling slack. "I see."

 _So much for sage advice,_ she lamented inwardly, shooting an appraising glance at Kaede over the hearth. _Maybe_ _Baa-chan just has_ really _awesome aim…?_

Her one-eyed mentor's inexplicable archery prowess aside, Kagome knew that there was more Kaede could teach her. Before, Kagome hadn't thought much about honing her spiritual strength. With Inuyasha there to protect her, it had seemed almost like a waste of time. All he had ever required of her were her abilities to locate and purify Jewel Shards, and those skills were second-nature.

She had never considered the possibility that he might abandon her. But he _had_. If Sesshoumaru hadn't shown up to intervene, last night's episode with that bull-faced youkai could have turned out quite differently. To survive the rest of her stay in Sengoku Jidai, she was going to have to learn how to protect herself. Working to lift the seal these past few months had given her hope that her miko powers were not as wild and unpredictable as she'd previously thought. The events that had happened earlier today had only served to reassure her on that point. Through her own will, she had shaped her reiki into a deadly blast of pure energy. It hadn't been a mere reaction, or an instinctual response—but an intentional, targeted attack. It made her wonder what else she was capable of. What were the limits of her power? Given enough practice, could she even become as strong as Kikyou?

Kagome wasn't sure, but regardless, it was high time she took some initiative for a change and worked on building her own strength—instead of always relying on others'.

"Kaede-baa-chan," she asked suddenly, "could you teach me how to make a barrier like the one you made today?"

Kaede's visible eye widened briefly in surprise.

"Don't see why not," she responded curtly a moment later, but to Kagome she seemed rather pleased by the request. Her joints cracked as she rose to her feet, fixing the young priestess with a stern look. "But for now ye should rest and recover thy strength."

"But I'm not—"

"If ye do not feel like sleeping," Kaede interrupted stubbornly, "then perhaps ye could help a poor old miko gather herbs."

Kagome watched as Kaede made a show of hobbling about her hut, clearing away the lunch dishes with exaggerated slowness. The young miko sighed in defeat.

"Of course I'll help you, Baa-chan. Which herbs do you need?"

"Wild mint," Kaede replied without missing a beat. "And shiso leaves, if ye see any."

Kagome's brow twitched. _Well, it certainly didn't take her long to consider._

Grabbing a woven basket from a corner of the hut, Kagome walked outside, squinting as her eyes adjusted to the afternoon sun. The air was warm and humid, and it wasn't long before Kagome began to sweat, dust from the dirt path turning to mud between her toes. She almost regretted forgoing the stuffy white tabi socks that were a traditional part of her uniform.

As she made her way toward the forest, the sight of something familiar in the distance gave her pause. Azure eyes glimmered in recognition, a smile spreading across her face. She sprinted forward at full speed, waving wildly.

"Miroku-san! Sango-chan!" she yelled happily, slamming a hand down on the lid of the basket as it attempted to fly away. "Shippou-chan! Over here!"

Unable to possibly miss her with all the commotion she was making, the approaching figures waved back, Shippou jumping up and down excitedly at Sango's side. Kagome reached them in less than a minute, a few nearby villagers startled by her impropriety as she barreled past them. The basket fell to the ground as she swept Shippou up in a breathless hug, peppering his cute round cheeks with kisses.

"Kagome-chaaaan," he whined, struggling half-heartedly in her grasp. "You're embarrassing me!"

Kagome pulled back a little, grinning at him sheepishly. "Sorry, Shippou-chan. I just couldn't help myself. It feels like I've been away from you guys for two years instead of two days."

She straightened, catching Sango in a quick, tight embrace before giving the firecat on her shoulder an affectionate ear ruffle. "Thanks again for taking me home so quickly, Kirara-chan! Because of you, I made it back just in time."

As she stepped back to beam at Miroku, she finally noticed that something was off. Neither the monk nor the taijiya were quite meeting her gaze, and both of them had remained uncharacteristically silent throughout her greeting. Now that she glanced back at him, even Shippou seemed unusually reserved.

"What's wrong?" she asked slowly, looking around at her group of friends. Her unease grew as she realized something else she had missed. "…Where are Inuyasha and Kikyou?"

She watched Miroku and Sango exchange an uncertain glance before the taijiya's chocolate brown eyes met Kagome's. The corners of her lips descended in a frown.

"Kagome-chan," Sango began softly, hesitantly—before a crisp, cool voice cut her off like a steel blade.

"I take it you've told her, then?"

Sango's expression darkened as Kagome spun around to face an approaching Kikyou, her hand rising unintentionally to the Jewel Shards at the base of her throat. The powerful priestess regarded her reincarnation impassively, her eyes as dark as onyx and twice as cold. Just behind her, Inuyasha stood, ever the faithful watchdog, his arms crossed stiffly over his chest.

Kagome turned her eyes away from him, meeting the stony gaze of her predecessor.

"Told me what?" she questioned warily.

A slight smile formed on Kikyou's lips. Strangely, the gesture made her white face seem even more like an emotionless mask.

"Inuyasha and I are to be married."


	4. Chapter Four

 

**Chapter Four**

Kagome shifted uncomfortably beneath the weight of so many pairs of eyes. Even _Kirara_ was staring at her intently. It was as if the entire universe were waiting for her response with bated breath.

"Um…okay," she said at last, glancing awkwardly at Kikyou.

But the tension surrounding her didn't break. If anything, it grew even more oppressive.

Kagome's cheeks flushed, a fine mist of sweat breaking out beneath her bangs. Unable to stand the stifling atmosphere a moment longer, she turned, bending down to retrieve her discarded basket.

"I told Kaede I'd gather some herbs for her," she announced to no one in particular, her voice coming out noticeably strained.

Without further ado, she resumed her trek to the forest, fighting the urge to run for cover. Her face scalded with embarrassment. Her traitorous blue eyes pricked with angry tears.

 _Why in Kami's_ name _did they have to look at me like that?_ Kagome railed within.

Inuyasha and Kikyou's marriage announcement had nothing to do with her. It was _their_ business—although to be honest, Kagome didn't really see the point. Hadn't the two of them been sleeping together for weeks now? They hadn't exactly been _discreet_ about it.

Kagome grimaced, shaking her head.

Reaching the edge of the forest, she stalked through the trees, spotting a patch of wild mint growing a short distance ahead. Still fuming, she half-threw the woven basket to the forest floor and began ripping up the mint in handfuls.

"So Inuyasha wants to make an honest corpse out of her," Kagome muttered as she brutalized the unsuspecting foliage. "Well, he doesn't need _my_ blessing."

Kicking the lid off the basket with her sandaled foot, the young miko stuffed the plants in, roots and all. Soon the spear-shaped leaves were flying everywhere, as if desperate to avoid her wrath.

She just couldn't get her friends' concerned expressions out of her head. The more she thought about them, the more aggravated she became. They'd been staring at her so carefully after Kikyou delivered the news—as if Kagome were a ticking time-bomb that was going to explode into hysterical tears at any moment.

Why couldn't they give her a little credit, for Kami's sake? Why did everyone feel they still had to walk on eggshells around her? Inuyasha and his dead girlfriend— _fiancée_ , she corrected irritably—were old news. Yesterday's issue. How long was it going to take before they stopped _expecting_ her to be upset?

Kagome growled in frustration as she jumped to her feet, strangling clods of mint in each fist. Dirt rained from their roots as she trembled with impotent fury, leaves sticking out of her hair at odd angles, tears cutting muddy tracks down her dust-covered cheeks.

" _I_. _Am_. _Not_. _Upset_!" she cried, punctuating each word with a stamp of her foot.

Her shoulders sagged, her voice resounding in the quiet of the forest. She breathed heavily as her hands fell, dangling loosely at her sides. In the silence that followed, the words that had burst so violently from her chest seemed to echo back, and she listened to them as they returned, her grey-blue eyes widening in wonder.

"I'm not…upset?"

Slowly—shakily—Kagome smiled. A giggle of laughter bubbled past her lips. Followed by another. And another.

"I'm not!" she gasped, bending over nearly double. "...Not one bit!"

The tears were flowing unchecked now—but this time, they were tears of relief. She felt unburdened, free. Lighter than air, and rising.

Because when she thought of Inuyasha and Kikyou getting married, Kagome felt nothing _at all_.

Still shuddering with spasms of laughter, she failed to notice the sound of approaching footsteps behind her, nor the sigh of annoyance as those footsteps—which had been made intentionally loud for _her_ benefit—drew to a sudden stop.

"Miko."

Kagome turned, blinking in surprise as she found the Lord of the Western Lands standing a few feet behind her. His long silver hair rippled in the breeze, silky and shimmering, framing his proud porcelain face. In the dappled sunlight, he looked as spotless and elegant as ever, while Kagome, as usual, was a total wreck. Crushed mint hung limply from her fingers, staining her skin green with its blood. Her priestess clothes were rumpled and smudged, her face itchy with dirt. She didn't even want to think about what her hair looked like.

"Hello, Sesshoumaru," Kagome said glumly. He seemed to have a knack for catching her at her worst.

Sesshoumaru took a step toward her, pointedly ignoring her casual greeting. When he spoke to her, his voice was cold enough to raise goosebumps on her skin.

"Alone in the woods again, without a weapon in sight." Golden eyes swept briskly over her form, narrowing faintly in displeasure. "Are all humans so slow to learn from their mistakes, or are you a notable exception?"

Kagome glared at him, heat rising in her cheeks. "I'm barely past the forest's edge. And it's daytime, besides."

In reply, the Lord of the Western Lands merely advanced another step. A tree branch overhead cast a broad stripe of shadow across his face, eyeshine gleaming from his left socket as the corner of his lips rose in a scathing half-smile.

"Not all dangers come out at night, priestess."

Unconsciously, Kagome stepped back from him, her heart racing at his words and the expression on his face…though not entirely from fear. Seeing him in broad daylight was doing strange things to her senses. Under the veil of night, it was much easier to see the differences between them. The darkness gave him a surreal, almost ghostlike quality. But now, standing here in the light and shadows, with her close enough to smell the musk from his sun-warmed skin and see the outline of hard muscle beneath his haori, Sesshoumaru was undeniably real.

Kagome swallowed, a curious sensation roiling in the pit of her stomach. All of a sudden, she felt alarmingly exposed.

 _I know_ , she wanted to say to him, the corners of her lips twitching upward. _The most dangerous thing in this forest is talking to me right now..._

But what she said instead was, "You seem pretty concerned about me, Sesshoumaru-sama."

The look the daiyoukai directed at her was pure murder.

"Don't be foolish. My concern is for my arm, and the vow you swore to mend it. It will be impossible for you to do so, if you are dead."

Kagome flinched, those last words of his sharp enough to cut through stone.

 _I'm guessing a comment about Tenseiga would not go over well just now_ , she considered, the color draining from her face.

"So, uh…" Kagome ventured as she looked around for her basket. The mint leaves in her hands were pretty much squished to pulp, but she needed something to fidget with as she carefully avoided his gaze. "…what brings you to Inuyasha's Forest?"

She snuck a quick peek at him through her bangs, in time to see him clench his jaw—most likely at the mention of his half-brother.

"I think it should be obvious," he answered, an imperious tilt to his chin, "why this Sesshoumaru is standing before _you_."

Kagome glanced up at him fully, eyes widening in comprehension.

"Oh…" she said, rising from her crouch with basket in hand. "Well, you see…about that…" Her fingernail picked nervously at a rough spot in the wicker. "…I don't think I'll be able to help you with your arm today. With regards to my reiki, well…I sort of, um…drained it."

Sesshoumaru stared down at her, his features devoid of expression.

"Drained it," he repeated tonelessly.

Kagome nodded in reply.

The daiyoukai cast a brief look about the small clearing, taking in the sight of the trampled and otherwise mutilated mint. A silver brow arched in disdain. "Picking weeds?"

" _Gathering herbs_ , actually," Kagome corrected under her breath. Then she remembered who she was dealing with and quickly added, "—my lord."

Thankfully for her, Sesshoumaru appeared to let this impertinence slide. Honestly, he seemed to be in a pretty good mood today—or, at least, in less of a bad one. Kagome liked to think this boded well for her chances of survival.

"…But to answer your question, no. I helped Kaede-baa-chan exterminate a flock of demon crows this morning, and I guess I kind of overdid it."

"How?"

Kagome looked up at him, surprised by the deep rumble of his voice. The intensity in his yellow eyes was even more startling. She hadn't expected him to show such interest, but now that he'd placed her under the considerable weight of his regard, she felt anxious, and a little pleased.

"Well," Kagome began, shifting in place, "I wasn't doing so great at first. My arrows kept missing their mark, and I was pretty sure Baa-chan was about to bash me over the head with her staff. But then I…" The miko bit her lip, trailing off as she remembered how his words had guided her to that place of tranquility, a state she had never before entered outside of his presence.

"…Then I remembered how I'd been able to focus my reiki during our meetings," Kagome resumed as she once again met his gaze, redness dusting her cheeks. "After that, it was easy. The crow youkai were falling one-by-one, and Baa-chan's barrier was protecting us from harm…only, there were others nearby. A little girl started wandering over to us while nobody was watching, and the rest of the flock headed for her at once. There wasn't time for me to pick them off like I'd been doing before, so I…" She gestured excitedly. "I channeled all my spiritual energy into a single arrow and managed to take them all out in one shot!"

Reaching the end of her story, Kagome exhaled in a rush, her blue eyes shining diamond-bright as she smiled up at the Lord of the West. "I think…I think I might be getting stronger."

Her expression quickly faltered when she saw the scowl darkening his features.

"I see," the daiyoukai said quietly, his face turned slightly away.

From the tenseness in his jaw and mouth, Kagome could tell that he was upset with her, though, as per usual, she had no idea why. Just like when she'd broken off a part of the seal, she'd thought this news of hers would make him happy. If her miko skills were improving, that meant he'd have his arm back sooner and would be able to stop suffering her human presence.

… _Isn't that what you want?_ Kagome asked him silently, her eyes trailing over his ashen cheek, lingering on the stripes that slashed across his high cheekbone. His eyes slanted towards her, their lids the same deep shade as the stripes, glaring down at her like she was the bane of his existence.

Beneath the prickle of hurt, Kagome flared with indignation, but before she could open her mouth to say anything, his head snapped to the right, his gaze narrowing at something behind her in the distance, in the direction of Kaede's village.

"Huh?" the miko said as she turned, following his line of sight.

Expecting to see something unpleasant approaching from afar—like an enraged youkai, or Kaede with another list of chores—Kagome was surprised to glimpse nothing through the trees but grassy hills and the village below, bustling with its usual activity. A slight wrinkle creased her brow.

"Sesshoumaru," she began, glancing back, "what—"

—But Sesshoumaru was gone.

Turning in a slow circle, Kagome scanned the trees around her, squinting past trunks and budding branches, but to no avail.

"Sesshoooooumaru!" she called, as if the Lord of the Western Lands were a pet dog who'd wandered too far from the doorstep. "Sesshoooooumaru-samaaaaa!"

No response.

It was as if the daiyoukai had simply winked out of existence. Kagome couldn't detect even a trace of his youki.

Hands on her hips, the young miko huffed in agitation, glowering at the spot where Sesshoumaru had last stood. Her left eyebrow twitched once, twice.

"Jerk…" she grumbled. "What the heck was that all about?"

Shaking her head, Kagome picked up her overturned basket and set about her task again. She'd been working for all of five minutes when a masculine voice shattered the serenity of the woods. But it wasn't Sesshoumaru this time.

"Oi, wench!"

Kagome's eyebrow twitch resurfaced with a vengeance. Gritting her teeth, the priestess didn't even bother rising from her crouch.

"What do you want, Inuyasha?" she ground out, cramming the mint into the basket with more force than was strictly necessary. "I've got work to do."

The hanyou snorted. "Like hell you do." He drew to a stop before her, crushing the plant she was about to collect beneath his heel. "You just needed an excuse to run off and lick your wounds. Admit it."

Inhaling slowly, Kagome straightened, locking her gaze with his. "I left because Kikyou created an awkward situation. I didn't run off so I could cry over _you_ , baka."

Inuyasha scowled, his ears flattening against his skull. "You're a shitty liar, Kagome. I know how you feel about me."

"Oh, _really_?"

"Yeah." Inuyasha moved forward, forcing Kagome to crane back her neck a little in order to maintain eye-contact. Smirking down at her, he crossed his arms smugly against his chest. "You're in love with me and you know it. I could smell the tears on you when Kikyou joined the group, hear you whimpering sometimes in the night. I saw how you looked at her, too—like you hated her guts. Because I chose her over you."

Kagome simply looked at him. She stared up into the face of first man she'd ever loved, and wondered what in Kami's name she'd been thinking. Inuyasha _was_ handsome, in a rough sort of way, dangerous-looking with his claws and his fangs. She'd thought his hard exterior was just that—and she hadn't been entirely wrong. There was kindness in him, deep-down. And love. But it had never been for her.

"I don't hate Kikyou," Kagome said, stepping back from him. "And as far as I'm concerned, she can have you."

The basket in her arms was only about half full, but Kagome decided it would just have to do. Hefting her burden a little higher, she edged around Inuyasha and began striding back toward the village.

"So that's it?" A clawed hand shot out, fastening around Kagome's wrist and bringing her to a halt. "That's all you've got to say?"

Kagome whirled, blue eyes flashing. "What else do you _want_ me to say?" she fired back at him, exasperated. " _Congratulations_?"

When Inuyasha did nothing but glare at her sullenly, Kagome wrenched her arm free and continued on her way. She made it about five steps before the sound of his voice had her freezing in her tracks.

"So, you're still gonna stay here…"

Kagome turned, glancing back at him suspiciously. "Stay here?—What are you talking about, Inuyasha?"

The half-demon approached her slowly, a heavy frown dragging down the corners of his lips. There was something so uncharacteristically grave in his expression that Kagome found herself turning around fully, a leaden weight of dread settling all the way down to her toes.

"Kikyou can detect the Shikon Shards just as well as you, and she's a lot handier with a bow," the hanyou stated in a low voice, as if to himself, though his keen amber eyes were riveted on her face all the while.

"So?" Kagome challenged, the word somewhat lacking in its bite. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"You just don't get it, do you?"

He was towering over her again, an unfriendly gleam in his eye. Kagome shifted the basket from one arm to the other as she held her ground.

"There's no place for you here. Not anymore."

Kagome stared up at him mutely. Her lips opened, but no words came out.

"So just do us all a favor, Kagome." The corner of Inuyasha's mouth lifted in a half-snarl, exposing a pearly white fang, but it was his words that stabbed through her, sharpest of all.

"Go back to your own time."

**xXxXxXx**

Hours later, after 'sitting' Inuyasha through a good six feet of dirt, Kagome sat alone on a wooden fence at the edge of the rice paddies, her bare feet dangling a few inches above the ground. A small sigh escaped her as she gazed up gloomily at the night sky.

The stars above her glittered—beautiful and enormously bright—but she was hopeless to enjoy them. Inuyasha's words kept replaying in her mind like some sort of awful song: _Go back to your time. Go back to your time. Go back, go back, go back…_

The middle ground between anger and sadness was a wretched place, and Kagome found herself feeling both restless and helpless at the same time. She wanted nothing more than to give Inuyasha _and_ his arrogant half-brother a piece of her mind, but what good would that do? Inuyasha would just scoff at her, and Sesshoumaru—well, she wasn't sure exactly _what_ Sesshoumaru would do…

… _Probably decide that the world is better off with one less miko in it_ , Kagome figured bleakly.

There was just nothing for it. Inuyasha wanted her to leave because she wasn't competent enough, and because she wasn't competent enough, she needed more time here to finish up fixing Sesshoumaru's arm.

It was maddening.

Worst of all, she had no one to vent to about any of it. With her friends in the Modern Era, she wouldn't even know where to start. Her brother Souta was too young and innocent to burden with these matters, and discussing them with her mother would only make Mrs. Higurashi even more sick with worry than she already was.

Then there were her friends in Sengoku Jidai. Like Souta, Shippou was only a child, and she couldn't confide in Miroku and Sango without divulging the exact terms of her agreement with Sesshoumaru—which she simply could not do.

And so, here she sat, stranded on her own little island of misery, without another soul in sight.

…Or, so she thought.

"There ye are," Kaede's voice called out suddenly behind her. Bracing one hand on the rough wooden railing, Kagome turned to find the old miko ambling toward her, arms crossed in the billowy white sleeves of her kimono shirt. "The hour is late, child. Ye should be sleeping." Approaching the fence, Kaede stopped, the night breeze tugging at the silvery-gray wisps of her hair. "Thy training begins at sunrise."

At this, Kagome let out another forlorn sigh, her eyes lowering to the ground.

"Never mind about that, Baa-chan. There's no point."

"No point?" Kaede demanded gruffly. "Why ever not?"

"Because I'm not going to be living in Sengoku Jidai for much longer," Kagome answered, a hard glint in her eye as she looked up at her mentor. "This afternoon, Inuyasha told me to go home."

"Aye, he did, did he?" The corner of Kaede's visible eye crinkled, her lips drawn into a tight, thin line. "And I suppose ye are going to listen to him?—as ye did some months ago, when he first bid ye return?"

Kagome glanced away, shaking her head. "It's different this time."

"How so? The Sacred Jewel yet remains in this world, and ye, Kagome, are its destined bearer."

At the mention of the Shikon no Tama, Kagome's fingers curled lightly around the quartz-like pendant at her breastbone. "The Jewel may have burst from my chest, but it was Kikyou's responsibility before it was mine. What if I've already played my part, Baa-chan? What if Kikyou returned from the dead because it's _her_ destiny to defeat Naraku and destroy the Sacred Jewel, not mine?"

Kaede frowned. "Surely, ye do not believe this to be true…"

"Maybe," Kagome said softly, her hand falling to her lap, "maybe Inuyasha is right. Maybe there really _isn't_ a place for me here. But even so…even if I want to I _can't_ —"

She broke off, biting down on her lip so hard it almost bled. Sheer panic widened her gaze.

Kaede would've had to have been blind not to notice Kagome's sudden distress. Unluckily for the young priestess, her aged mentor still had one good eye left. Reaching forward, the elderly miko placed a wrinkled hand lightly over Kagome's closed fist.

"Tell me, child, what's truly troubling ye?"

Kagome looked at her, uncertain. The burden of her secret had never felt heavier to bear. She racked her mind for a reason not to tell Kaede and came up surprisingly short.

"I'm being blackmailed by Inuyasha's older brother," she said at last, a giant weight seeming to roll free from her shoulders. "He threatened to kill my friends unless I agreed to help him regrow his severed arm. That's why I can't just go back home. If I leave before the work is through, Sango, Miroku and Shippou will all be in serious danger."

Kaede was silent for a while, her expression grim. It appeared she was familiar with the daiyoukai's bloody reputation.

"I take it ye have not told the others."

"No." Kagome jerked her head to the side. "How could I? If I told Miroku and Sango, they'd probably try to do something crazy, like fight him—Inuyasha _definitely_ would. And besides, I…" She trailed off, a nervous blush staining her cheeks.

The old miko's brow rose about an inch above her patch. "…Ye _want_ to help the Lord of the West restore his arm?"

"Yeah." Kagome nodded weakly. "But he _hates_ me. Nothing I ever do is right." She glowered down at her broken thumbnail. "It never used to bother me. I guess I was too busy being terrified of him or upset over Inuyasha, but now…now it's all I can think about. The way he looks at me sometimes just chills me to the bone."

Half-hidden beneath a leather flap, Kaede's glance was unnervingly appraising.

"…Why would Sesshoumaru hate ye so fiercely?"

A flurry of images swept through Kagome's mind in a crimson haze—memories of red eyes and clawed hands and the pierce of them both beneath her skin. A dot of blood in the middle of her palm, the hard ground jarring her bones, cold breath stirring the air above her lips, whispering, _"Is that so."_

… _I don't know._

She gave a half-hearted shrug.

"Because I'm human, I guess."

Kaede nodded, though whether to Kagome or to herself, the young priestess couldn't say.

"Youkai are mysterious beings," her mentor spoke after some time. "Their lives are long, their thoughts seldom peaceful, and difficult for ye and I to understand. It will be no easy task for ye to withstand Sesshoumaru's ire, but ye have more courage and strength than any miko I have known." At Kagome's incredulous look, Kaede grinned, giving her protégé's fingers a reassuring squeeze. "Aye—even more than my sister, Kikyou."

"But, what can I do?" Kagome asked desperately. "I can't tell Inuyasha I need to stay here so I can help the brother he hates."

"Say nothing to Inuyasha, for the present. Ye must fulfill thy promise to Sesshoumaru first," Kaede stated, matter-of-fact. "I will help ye in this, if I can."

Kagome started to decline, "No, that's…"

But the rest of her refusal died on her lips. Like lightning, inspiration struck her suddenly, setting her azure eyes aglow.

"Baa-chan," she said, gripping Kaede's fingers tightly back.

"...What do you know about magic seals?"

**xXxXxXx**

He found her the next evening on a hill outside the human village. She lay on her back gazing up at the waning moon, arms crossed loosely behind her head, dark hair spilling over her white sleeves in thick, lustrous waves. Off to the side, a bow and quiver dented the new spring grass, and Sesshoumaru smirked to himself, seeing that she had heeded his rebuke from the day before.

"Miko, what are you doing?"

The girl jumped in surprise, propping herself up on her elbows. Her lack of readiness vaguely annoyed him. Had he been an approaching enemy, she'd have been hard-pressed to arm herself in time.

"Nothing, really," she replied, peering up at him, her eyes as luminous as the moon overhead. "Just waiting for you."

Her words struck an odd chord within him. Uncertain how to respond to such a comment, Sesshoumaru decided to ignore it, and knelt beside her in the fragrant grass.

"Your strength has returned?"

She nodded, tucking her sandaled feet beneath her. "Hai. I slept well last night and took it pretty easy today, so I'm feeling back to normal again." A small, secret smile played at her lips. "Maybe even better."

Sesshoumaru arched a brow as she reached for his sleeve of her own accord, deft fingers folding back the heavy silk almost brazenly. His breath stilled as the night air drenched his bared skin, chilling it an instant before he felt the warmth of her touch. Long lashes cast shadows over her cheeks as they fell, and he followed their descent with heavy-lidded eyes.

"Sesshoumaru," she murmured a moment later, the hint of command in her voice stirring his blood, "will you let me in?"

The daiyoukai relaxed his guard, allowing her reiki to penetrate his wretched stump. He gritted his teeth against the sensation. Careful though she was not to contact his youki directly, the girl could not prevent how her magic scalded his pride with each feathery brush.

The first few times she'd attempted to lift the curse, she'd burned him in the flesh. Sesshoumaru found himself longing for that pain instead. The fleeting, visceral pleasure of her reiki grazing over his raw nerve endings only deepened his sense of violation.

He felt when she reached the seal. A wave of heat pulsed through the remains of his arm as the spiritual energy spooling from her fingertips joined with the remnants hidden in his flesh. There was something different about her tonight—a certain eagerness that set him distinctly on edge.

In a matter of minutes, the entirety of the seal began to warp and tremble, and Sesshoumaru realized that the miko's tactics had changed. Instead of chipping away at it like she'd been doing for the past several weeks, the girl was attempting to bring down the whole seal at once.

 _Too soon_ , Sesshoumaru thought, alarm flaring within him.

He reacted instinctively, twisting around and using his good arm to fling the miko back and pin her to the earth below. Forearm locked against her chest, he hovered over her dazed form, revealing the tips of his ivory fangs. In the sudden movement, the girl's clothing had twisted, and with each heave of her lungs, the curve of her exposed breast pressed soft and warm against the inside of his wrist.

 _As if my blood wasn't up enough as it is,_ the daiyoukai reflected bitterly.

"You…" the miko seethed, struggling beneath his grasp. "…You did it _again_!"

He removed his arm, and she bolted upright, oblivious to her gaping attire in her moment of rage. Sesshoumaru wished he could feign such ignorance, but seeing her breasts restrained only by a scrap of some curious blue fabric had arrested him completely. A small sound of surprise told him that she had followed his gaze, her fingers scrambling to conceal her naked chest.

"Why do you keep doing this?" she demanded weakly, holding her kimono shirt closed with both hands. "Every time I start making progress, you interrupt me." Her eyes glistened, hot and wet, her voice sharpening with frustration. "Why can't you just let me do _my job_ , for Kami's sake? Don't you want your stupid arm back already—"

"Enough," Sesshoumaru said coldly, her insolence rankling him to the bone. " _I_ will decide when your _job_ is over, girl. Not you."

"Ugh!" the miko exclaimed in disgust, pushing herself to her feet. Her cheeks flushed prettily, her hands balled into trembling fists at her sides. "Listen here, Sesshoumaru-sama: I don't have time to play your power games anymore. I need to fix your arm as quickly as possible so that _I can go home_!"

In one fluid motion, Sesshoumaru stood, the girl balking visibly as he loomed above her. Her clean, floral scent spiked with apprehension.

"Why are you so impatient to return?" he inquired in a low tone, his golden eyes piercing hers. "Is it to be with that human boy?"

Inwardly, Sesshoumaru cringed, regretting the words the moment they left his tongue. Only this accursed girl could bring about such lapses in his control…

" _What_?—no!" she said, her blue eyes spreading wide.

"Then tell me, miko, why I should let you return." Stepping nearer to her, he slid a knuckle beneath her chin, tilting her face up toward his. "Tell me what lies on the other side of the Bone-Eater's Well."

Her full pink lips parted in shock, sorely tempting him to close the distance between them. His thumb moved forward when she tried to back out of his grip, locking her firmly in place. Her head gave a tiny shake.

"I can't tell you, Sesshoumaru. It's too dangerous…"

 _"…_ You're _too dangerous_ ," her expression seemed to say.

Somewhat appeased by this, Sesshoumaru relented, allowing her to wriggle free from his hold like a rabbit from a loosened snare. Retreating a few paces, the girl eyed him warily, rubbing the back of her hand against her chin.

Even now he could see the defiance returning to her gaze, and the dark jagged claws of his fixation sank themselves deeply into his mind. Before she could collect her weapons and turn to leave—before she could contemplate _leaving_ altogether—he reached out, raking his fingers through her luxuriant hair, catching a tangled wildflower in his claws.

"I don't care what your reason is. You will not pass through the Well until this Sesshoumaru deems your task complete." The daiyoukai studied the white flower in his hand, the girl before him standing rigid, still seemingly paralyzed from his touch. "Should you leave and break your word, rest assured, girl—I will _not_ break mine."

With a faint hiss, poison seeped from his claws, dissolving the delicate flower in a wash of acid green.


	5. Chapter Five

  **Chapter Five**

Days passed.

With the marriage of its legendary priestess fast approaching, Edo village had worked itself into a frenzy. Children gathered in the town square, listening with rapt attention as the elders recounted, over and over, how Lady Kikyou had sacrificed her life to save the village from the thieving, murderous half-demon Inuyasha and how she had returned from the grave decades later to teach him love and compassion...the role of the _other_ miko in this tale quite forgotten. On the outskirts of town, the men of the village built a spacious new hut for the couple while the ladies assembled to labor over Kikyou's wedding kimono and gossip amongst themselves about Inuyasha's demon half—which, they had apparently decided, was the _lower_ one.

"They say a youkai's manhood is twice as large as a human's," a middle-aged woman named Toriko remarked as she stitched a sleeve, a devious glint in her eye.

Across from her, a younger woman gasped, clutching a bolt of cloth to her chest. " _Twice_ as large?"

Another wife nodded, leaning in and adding in a conspiratorial whisper, "And _I've_ heard that they mount their women like beasts, and savage them for hours on end."

"Oh, Kami-sama— _for hours?_ "

"Like _beasts_?"

"How frightening!"

More gasps and exclamations followed, but from the way the women's eyes glittered and their cheeks reddened, none of them seemed particularly afraid.

Kagome, for her part, did her best to fade into the background, which wasn't terribly difficult given all the uproar. While Kaede was busy overseeing the wedding preparations, Kagome tended to the sick, gathered herbs, and made simple poultices at her mentor's instruction. Not that she was able to escape notice entirely. After being mistaken for Kikyou at least a dozen times, she decided to ditch the miko attire for her modern clothes. People from Edo and nearby villages kept presenting her with wedding gifts, and she'd quickly gotten fed up with having to awkwardly accept the presents only to deliver them to the real Kikyou later on.

So she wasn't sure whether to feel amused or annoyed when she happened to see the tables turned. Emerging from Kaede's hut one day, she glimpsed Kikyou nearby, conversing with a tall man whose familiar top-knot flip-flopped as he bowed low before the dead priestess.

"Kikyou-sama," Akito said as he straightened, presenting Kikyou with a small wooden cask of sake, "please accept this gift, along with our deepest gratitude for clearing our land of those foul demon crows."

"Demon crows?" Kikyou's parchment-white brow wrinkled in confusion. "I know not of what you speak, Akito-san."

Akito's expression crumbled. "G-gomen, Kikyou-sama. Felling such youkai as those must have been a trivial matter for a miko of your renown, a task easily forgotten. But surely you remember…surely you recall saving our little Kimiko-chan?"

Kagome felt bad for Akito. But seeing Kikyou standing there at an utter loss was priceless. Not to mention a first. She expected her predecessor to respond to him with a cold, " _You are mistaken_ ," or something along those lines, but instead, the miko nodded slowly, accepting the gift with a small bow of her own.

"…Arigato, Akito-san."

Kagome didn't see Kikyou again until two days later. Whenever she and Kaede had free time, the old granny insisted on training Kagome in the ways of the priestess. As it turned out, Kaede was no expert in sealing magic, but she _did_ have a lot of practical experience. Sixty-one years' worth, to be exact.

" _Magic seals?"_ the elderly miko had answered in response to Kagome's question. _"Nay, child…can't say that I know much about them, apart from what I've witnessed with mine own eyes."_

" _You mean, with Inuyasha and Goshinboku?"_

" _Aye,"_ Kaede had answered with a nod. _"An instant to place the seal, and an instant to remove it."_

An instant. An action. A single move and Kagome had broken Inuyasha free from half a century of enchanted slumber. There had been no unraveling it slowly, no picking it apart. She had taken the cursed arrow in her hand, and, like a scab from an old wound, had torn the seal from Inuyasha's chest in one decisive pull.

Why should the magic stuck in Sesshoumaru's arm be any different? With tendrils of her reiki curled around it like so many fingers, she'd felt the daiyoukai's enchantment bend and compress beneath her spiritual pressure, responding to her manipulation as a collective whole. She'd been close— _so close_ —poised on the razor-edge of understanding. But even if Sesshoumaru hadn't stopped her, she wouldn't have brought the seal down that night.

There was still something she was missing. That last, elusive piece to the puzzle—though Kagome couldn't have known just how very right she was in her thinking.

She squared her shoulders, narrowed her eyes at the staff in her hands. She was centered—her conscious and subconscious perfectly aligned. Within her, the tide of her reiki rose and fell in restless waves.

One deep breath, and Kagome drew upon this well, releasing a flood of energy from her palms and fingers. Rose-colored light coursed down Kaede's wooden staff and onto the ground below. Beneath her feet, the reiki pooled and spread, greening the grass with its pure essence of life as it at last curled upward at the edges, arcing into a shimmering, transparent dome—a larger, brighter, and more unwieldy version of Kaede's protective barrier. In a matter of minutes, the sides began to flare and tremble as Kagome's spiritual energy continued to pour in.

The young miko grit her teeth against the flow, sweat trailing down her temples. Reiki pounded at her mental blockades, crashing through them like a river through a pile of sticks, almost as quickly as she laid them down. She felt the futility of her resistance and, with a defeated sigh, ended up breaking her concentration altogether.

Kagome let the staff fall from her hands as she flopped onto the grass, her legs sprawling out from under her. She'd exhausted herself yet _again_. Kaede was going to give her one heck of lecture.

" _Dang it_ …" she groaned in frustration, beating her fist against the turf. The ripe grass blades burst at the contact, leaching their stubborn green pigment into her skin.

 _Great,_ she thought sourly, glaring at her tinted hands, _good luck getting_ this _kind of stain out of my favorite pair of jeans later…_

Beyond weary at this prospect, Kagome turned her pleading gaze skyward. "Kami, what is wrong with me? Why can't I just control my power like Baa-chan says…"

"Because you are not like her," a cool, feminine voice stated in reply.

Kagome started. Twisting herself around, she gaped in surprise to see Kikyou standing next to her on the hilltop, cold and lovely as a statue carved from stone. Onyx eyes slanted toward her, unreadable in their regard.

"You are like me."

Flushing angrily, Kagome jumped to her feet. "No _way_ ," she bit out, thrusting a finger toward Kikyou. "I am _nothing_ like you."

Kikyou stared impassively into the face of Kagome's ire. "Do you think I was always as I am now? Is it so difficult for you to believe that I once laughed and cried, that I, too, was once full of life and love and hope for the future?"

"You were given a second chance," Kagome challenged, but her anger at Kikyou's presumption had already begun to fade.

"Yes," Kikyou answered, though the bitterness in that one word of concession didn't give Kagome much sense of victory. "I was given another chance to walk this earth in a shell of frigid clay, never to hold a child of my own in my arms, or grow old with the one I love, or feel any sort of real warmth ever again." Fathomless and dark, her gaze locked with Kagome's. "That is why I envy you."

"Envy _me_?" Kagome repeated dubiously, raising her brow. "But you're the one who won, right? Shell or not, Inuyasha still chose you over me."

"You're wrong," her predecessor replied, shifting her gaze to the horizon. In the distance, the sun began to set. "Inuyasha is in love with the memory of me as I was, not the creature I am now. Before I returned, you were a touchstone for those memories. I am simply a more vivid reminder."

"Then...why marry him? Why keep deluding yourselves?"

"Because the delusion of happiness is all that we have left," Kikyou said softly, a frown splintering her marble face. "That, and our vengeance."

At this, Kagome's hackles fell, her shoulders sinking as she frowned in return. "How sad…"

Kikyou turned to her fully.

"Yes," she said in a brisk tone, "but I did not come here for your pity."

"So why _are_ you here?" Kagome shot back, all sympathy vanishing promptly, as per request.

"My sister tells me you have an interest in seals."

Kagome stiffened, clenching her jaw. _Argh!_ _That meddlesome old granny…_

"…And that is all she told me," Kikyou added, apparently sensing Kagome's feelings of utter betrayal.

"Yeah, well," the young miko grumbled, crossing her arms against the fabric of her t-shirt, "she had no business saying anything about it in the first place."

"Don't be angry with her. She only spoke to me out of concern for you. Manipulating magical seals is beyond the scope of her ability."

Kagome's arms fell slack. "You mean…she can't make them at all?"

Kikyou nodded, looking at her levelly. "Not all who command reiki are capable to the task. Sealing magic is the strongest form a miko's power can take." At Kagome's skeptical expression, Kikyou continued, "Strong enough to bind a half-demon in fifty years of sleep, or to fuse the souls of woman and youkai into a Jewel of absolute power."

"And what if," Kagome asked, paling, "what if a person were to, say, create a seal on accident? How would that person go about removing it?"

"Impossible," Kikyou dismissed, crushing Kagome's spirit with a flick of her delicate wrist. "A seal cannot be placed without intention."

"But—"

"There must be a conscious thought, an act of will to form the reiki and affix it to the chosen place. You will have to remember the shape your thoughts took as you set the seal."

"…I never said I set one," Kagome responded lamely.

Kikyou ignored this and continued on. "A seal is like a lock. Whatever closed it is the key to opening it as well."

Kagome considered this quietly. Her first strategy had been to chip away at the seal, using her reiki like a hammer and chisel. When that had proved slow going, she'd taken the spiritual equivalent of a crowbar to it with just about as much success. Making herself see that she'd been going about this thing the wrong way didn't take a whole lot of convincing. Kikyou's lock theory was definitely one she could buy into. Now, all she needed was the key.

A crooked grin pulled at her lips. _Too bad I can't remember where I placed it…_

"Have I said something amusing?"

Covering her mouth with her hand, Kagome glanced over at Kikyou. "Ah, no…not really," she replied through the gaps between her fingers. "But I have to ask…why are you helping me with this?"

Wind whistled through the grass, ruffling short sleeves and long, tugging at ebony waves and inky tresses. Across a sea of vibrant green, black eyes met blue—two windows of the same soul.

"Friendship is not something that can exist between us," Kikyou said after a while. Silently, Kagome agreed. "…However, I do not wish for us to be enemies, either."

"No," Kagome said with a weak smile, "neither do I." She tilted her head, giving the other miko an inquisitive look. "…Can I ask you one more thing?"

Kikyou nodded.

"How can I control my power? Little things are easy enough, but if I try to do something more ambitious, like create a barrier, I end up draining almost all my reiki in one go."

The tiniest of smiles lit the legendary miko's face, seductive and secret. "As I said before, Kagome, you are like me." Kikyou turned, preparing to head back to the village. "You, too, must discover this answer for yourself."

With that, she began to walk away. Kagome glared after her, looking like Inuyasha in his worst state of grump.

"Tch," she muttered, "how helpful..."

A moment later, a sudden thought had Kagome chasing her down. "Wait!" she hollered, stopping a few feet behind her.

Kikyou paused, glancing back. "What is it?"

"The spell that sealed Inuyasha to the God Tree…" Kagome said in a rush. "The arrow was the key to removing it, right?"

Kikyou held her gaze. "No," she said. Her dark eyes fell, lingering for a moment at the base of Kagome's throat. "Not the arrow."

Without another word, she resumed her course. Kagome frowned as she watched her go, her fingers loosely gripping the chunk of Jewel shards resting just above her heart.

She thought of the Shikon no Tama, of Kikyou's words to her and her actions toward Akito the other day. The Sacred Jewel had robbed Kikyou of her life and her love, but it had brought them back together again as well. Neither good nor evil, to Kikyou and Inuyasha, the Jewel had once been a symbol of hope. Perhaps, in a way, it still was. Despite what Kikyou said, despite what Kagome herself had once believed, there was warmth in her predecessor still.

_Kikyou…I was wrong about you. I've been wrong about a lot of things, it seems._

She was still standing there lost in thought when Sesshoumaru found her some time later. The sun had set, and purple twilight covered the land. A faint breeze still blew, carrying the scent of wildflowers and spring grass—and of him, clove oil and sun-warmed fur, and a subtle, masculine fragrance that was entirely his own.

Kagome turned, casting a sidelong glance at his approaching form. Her fingers idly traced the jagged edge of her pendant.

_A lock and a key…_

It sounded so simple. All she had to do was remember. What had been going through her mind as she'd confronted Sesshoumaru in the youkai graveyard? What shape had her thoughts taken in those frantic moments when she'd clasped Tessaiga in her hands?

She looked at him, at the way his eyes seemed to glow in the gathering darkness. The wind lifted his silver hair, the dark blue crescent above his browline vanishing and reappearing like the moon behind a cover of cloud. His sculpted ivory features were as inscrutable as ever. Looking at him helped put the mystery of the seal into perspective.

And yet…

She still remembered how his fingers had felt as they'd carded themselves through her hair, the tips of his sharp claws scraping lightly against her scalp. There had been something eerily reminiscent in the way the pad of his thumb had brushed her cheekbone, his eyes trained upon her— _always_ upon her, and heavy with something like accusation, but deeper, keener. She could feel it piercing her even now. Unconsciously, a shiver ran down her spine.

What was he after, really? And did she even _want_ to know?

 _Yes_ , a part of her whispered, _I want—_

"Are you ill, miko?"

His words hit her like a bucket of ice-water straight to the face.

"N-no!" Kagome spluttered, reeling. A furious blush stained her cheeks as she fisted a hand in her hair. "…why would you think that?"

"You were trembling, your eyes glazed as if with fever."

He moved towards her as though she were about to collapse at any moment. If he took another step closer, she probably would.

"Look, I'm not sick, okay?" the miko insisted, throwing up her hands palm-flat. "So, you can just stop _right there_ —i-if you want to, that is…I mean, if it, um, pleases Your Lordship, that would be great…"

"Miko, you are rambling," Sesshoumaru cut her off in a bored tone. "Calm yourself."

 _Easy for you to say_ , Kagome thought with a glower.

He was ever cool and collected, calm and composed. And so infuriatingly regal. Except when he wasn't. More than once now the mask had slipped, and she'd gotten a glimpse of what he truly was—the feral demon lurking beneath the flawless human exterior. All blood-red eyes and savage intent. She imagined telling Sesshoumaru to 'calm himself' when he was in one of _his_ moods and figured she'd be lucky to find herself still in one piece afterwards.

There was something of a double-standard at work here, and though Kagome resented it, she could see little choice but to keep playing along. " _Remove the seal_ ," he'd commanded, though if she made more than a half-hearted attempt to do so, he'd sever their spiritual connection in a second flat, ignoring her when she threw his own words right back at him. So, she'd regressed to plucking at the individual threads of the enchantment, snapping one off on occasion with what now constituted a token effort on her part. He'd seemed more than satisfied with this pseudo-progress, and far from reassuring her, Kagome felt more at a loss than ever.

Somewhere along the way, the purpose of their meetings had changed, and Kagome had clearly missed the memo. It wasn't about lifting the curse, not anymore. The young priestess found herself standing on unfamiliar ground, worried that her next step might send her sprawling. She didn't know what to expect from him, or, rather, what he was expecting from her. And when he sought her out now instead of waiting for her to come to him, what did that mean? And when his gaze burned into her like an open flame, and his voice pitched into that low, unnerving rumble, what was she supposed to say? And when he touched her, like he was doing _right now_ , how in Kami's name was she supposed to react?

His clawed fingers curled around her upper arm, resting just below the short sleeve of her navy shirt. His grip was light but firm, the tips of his claws barely denting her bare skin. She could safely say that the gooseflesh rising on her arms had nothing to do with the chill of the evening air.

"What have you done?" he demanded, tightening his hold on her as he drew her in. "You can hardly stand."

Now that he mentioned it, her knees _did_ feel rather weak. With a soft grunt, Kagome stumbled forward, catching hold of his armor as she fell. The front of her shirt snagged on one of the hard metal points of his chest plate, ripping as Sesshoumaru hauled her upright. Glancing down in mild horror, Kagome found the dancing bunny design on her t-shirt was now missing its furry little head.

"Kami," she muttered, feeling woozier than ever as she attempted to step back. Looking from Sesshoumaru's hand to his face and back again, she grimaced. "…I'm okay now, I think. So you can, you know…" She gave her hostage arm a little shake, for emphasis.

The prolonged contact was making her uneasy. There'd been no need for him to grab her in the first place, and the unexpectedness of it was what had thrown her off-balance more than anything else.

"You've exhausted your reiki," he stated, still stubbornly holding onto her arm as he once again closed the distance between them. His eyes bore into hers, simmering like liquid gold. "Were you attacked?"

"No," Kagome said with a sigh. "I just overdid it again during training—"

"Unacceptable."

Kagome's head snapped up, her eyes glaring into his. "…Excuse me?"

Sesshoumaru's gaze cooled, hardening in disapproval, although he appeared to take her words of pardon literally. "It is irresponsible to deplete your power during practice, not knowing when a true battle might arise." He peered down his sharp, straight nose at her in that insufferable way of his, and Kagome felt her fists clench in time with her jaw. "Not to mention foolish."

"I'm not doing it on purpose, you know," Kagome growled, shrugging out of his grip. The knowledge that she could only do so because he _permitted it_ did nothing to soothe her boiling temper. "And, anyway, what do _you_ care? It's not like I need to be at one-hundred-percent to poke around at the seal for the few minutes you'll let me."

Golden eyes flicked to hers in warning. "Careful, miko."

" _Careful_ , right," Kagome huffed, undeterred. "All I've _done_ is be careful around you, not that it's brought either of us much good." She raised her chin, looking him squarely in the eye. "Think about it, Sesshoumaru. That magic trapped in your arm didn't make its way there gradually, or by some sort of elaborate plan. I flung it on you in the heat of the moment, somehow, and it was _simple_ —simple enough that I could do it with even less knowledge of my miko abilities than I have now. Removing it should be just as easy, just as quick."

Sesshoumaru was silent. From the way his lips thinned almost imperceptibly, she could tell that he was, in fact, thinking about what she'd said—and, she suspected darkly, how to _refute_ it.

"Perhaps the curse could be lifted all at once," he conceded at last, holding her gaze as firmly as he'd held her arm some moments before. "Perhaps," he continued in a lowered voice, leaning forward, dipping his head to her ear, the cool rush of his breath stirring her hair, chilling the blood beneath her fragile skin, "perhaps a youkai sorcerer could do this, or a miko of greater age and experience…" His hand was wrapped around her collar, his thumb pressing the chain of her necklace into the hollow of her throat. "…But not you."

"Oh, no," Kagome seethed quietly, fighting the urge to swallow even as anger flashed like lightning through her mind, "not a _weak_ , _worthless_ human like me. Whatever _was_ I thinking..."

Sesshoumaru scoffed, his claws grazing none-too-gently over her neck as he withdrew. Above them, clouds shifted in the night sky, their shadows rippling across his face, pale in comparison to the darkness that surfaced in his preternatural gaze.

"I have never known a human like you."

Kagome's breathing grew shallow as he regarded her heatedly, intently, with a perverse sort of reverence that made the fine hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. She could hear her own blood pounding in her veins.

Clutching at her scratched throat, she retreated half a step. The breeze pulled at strands of her hair as if in protest, the air around her thick with his roiling youki: green flames that roared in her mind's eye, edged with the deepest black. She raised another hand to comb back her wayward locks, unable to ignore how his hooded eyes traced the movement with phantom fingers of their own. Kagome's lips parted, her mouth going abruptly dry.

 _Get a grip now, Higurashi_ , she thought somewhat hysterically, a nervous laugh escaping her as she almost tripped over her own feet.

"I-is that so? Well, um…like you said, I'm not so skilled as priestesses go, so I guess we'd better just…do things your way?"

There was a rustle of silk as he approached her. Kagome eyed him warily, willing her breathing to even out.

_This guy has no concept of personal space._

The shadows darkening his gaze had receded, along with the angry tide of his youki. Apparently, she'd managed to say the right thing for once, though it grated on her to cater to his control-freak tendencies and over-inflated sense of superiority. Oh well. Such were the sacrifices one made in order to keep one's head firmly above one's shoulders. Or so she told herself.

"You are too weak to attend to the curse," Sesshoumaru declared as he halted a few inches before her. Kagome had to lean back uncomfortably in order to meet his flat golden stare. "It is fortunate for you that I did not come here solely on that account."

"Then, why are you here?" This seemed to be the question of the day.

The daiyoukai paused, the corners of his lips descending slightly. The thought that he looked uncertain rose briefly in her mind, before Kagome dismissed it out of hand. The great Lord Sesshoumaru did not _waver_.

"I must travel to the northern edge of my lands, to settle a border dispute," he answered, his hand resting on the hilt of Tokijin, his malevolent demon sword. Kagome could guess what sort of _negotiations_ would be involved in settling this dispute of his. What she couldn't figure out, however, was why he felt the need to share this news with her.

"Oh," she said, blinking. "Okay…"

The look he directed at her in reply was a familiar one. It seemed to question why he continued to suffer her existence.

"I am informing you of this so you will know not to expect this Sesshoumaru's presence for a few days' time."

A steady glare followed the end of this statement, demanding some sort of response from her when all she really felt was confusion. Since when did he bother keeping her abreast of his schedule? In the past, he had always come and gone as he pleased, without the slightest regard for her expectations, or lack thereof.

"Right," she managed eventually, hoping her smile and nod were at least marginally convincing. "…Duly noted."

Whatever response Sesshoumaru had been after, Kagome's was decidedly not it. They parted ways on an unmistakably sour note, Kagome's brain still spinning as she made her way back to Edo village.

She kept trying to process the last glance he'd given her. He'd almost looked…disappointed. Kagome frowned. He made her feel kind of guilty, though for the life of her, she couldn't figure out why.

Maybe she'd spent too much time around him recently. Day after day of trying to puzzle out the barest hints of expression—the twitch of his fine silver lashes, the small subtle curve of his lips—must finally be taking their toll on her sanity. Still, it would be strange not having him around _at all_ over the next couple of days…

Preoccupied with such thoughts, Kagome pushed back the heavy hemp curtain and entered Kaede's hut. Though it was well past nightfall, the old miko had yet to return. Kagome didn't find this particularly surprising. Kikyou's wedding was now a mere two days away, and Kaede had even been forced to leave Kagome to her own devices in the middle of today's training as a result.

A kettle of miso soup was still simmering over the hearth, an assortment of cooked fish resting nearby on heated stones. In a corner, Shippou and Kirara were already fast asleep on a pile of blankets, the little kit's full belly poking out beneath the hem of his haori. Only Sango remained awake. Clothed in her pink traveling kimono, she sat by the fire, polishing Hiraikotsu's edge to a glossy, bone-white finish. As Kagome crossed the threshold, the taijiya looked up from her work, a small smile lighting her face.

"Good evening, Kagome-chan," she said in greeting. "Shippou-kun was kind enough to leave your share of dinner untouched for a change." She glanced over at the dozing kitsune, her painted eyelids lowering a fraction in amusement. "Or perhaps he simply got distracted."

"Either way, I'm grateful," Kagome replied with a grin.

She sank down next to her friend on one of Kaede's few tatami mats, uncrossing her arms as she reached for a bowl and a piece of blackened fish. For a few minutes, Kagome stuffed her face in blissful abandon, unaware of Sango's protracted silence until the moment it broke.

"Kagome-chan," the taijiya asked, her brow furrowed in question, "what happened to your shirt?"

Kagome froze mid-bite. Slowly, she followed Sango's gaze down to the gaping tear that had decapitated her t-shirt design and created a sizeable peephole to her chest.

 _Huh_ , she thought blankly. _That_ did _happen._

She swallowed, setting down her chopsticks on the rim of the clay soup bowl. "Oh, this…heheh, um…" She clapped a hand over the rip, her fingers fiddling with the flap of cotton fabric that had once closed the gap. "Must've snagged it on something in the woods."

"The woods?" Sango echoed, perplexed. "I thought you and Kaede-sama were practicing barrier magic in the valley today…"

Kagome flinched. _Stupid!_

"…Did I say 'woods'? I meant _wood_ ," she corrected hastily, scrambling for her chopsticks again. "Baa-chan's old staff has some pretty nasty splinters—could use a good sanding if you ask me." She speared a chunk of fish, cramming it into her mouth with exaggerated relish. "Mhmm! This sure is some great tasting trout, Sango-chan."

The demon slayer arched a slender brow. "…Thank you. That one's catfish, though."

Kagome nodded, her sound of acknowledgement garbled by a mouth full of fish flesh. Belatedly her tastebuds reminded her that she hated catfish, but she was too heavily invested in the act to give it up now. Besides, her commitment seemed to be paying off. Sango hadn't posed any follow-up questions as she watched Kagome devour all of the remaining fish in gruesome fascination.

 _Phew, it worked_ , Kagome congratulated herself as she choked down the last flaky morsel, cold sweat breaking out across her skin.

"Kagome-chan," Sango began after a while, "I've been thinking about returning to my village for a few days. It's been some time since I've tended to the graves, and my armor is in need of repair."

"Sure," Kagome said with a queasy smile, reaching for more miso to drown out the muddy taste of the catfish, "sounds like a great idea to me. It's not like we'll be Shard-hunting anytime soon."

 _Although 'we'_ _may be a strong word in my case_ , Kagome reflected glumly.

Sango nodded. "Yes. And so I was wondering…would you like to accompany me?" Her dark eyes shifted, not quite meeting Kagome's questioning blue gaze. "It might be nice to get out of the village for a short while."

Kagome's smile faltered. She knew what Sango was really getting at—heck, the demon slayer might have gone so far as to come up with this whole return trip idea just to offer Kagome a convenient cover for skipping town at this most _joyous_ of times. While she didn't like to think of herself running away from Kikyou and Inuyasha's impending marriage ceremony, Kagome had to admit that the thought of sticking around here wasn't too appealing either. If she stayed, she'd just be standing by awkwardly on the sidelines, without even her meetings with Sesshoumaru to distract her. She'd already considered and dismissed the notion of going home for a few days, not putting it past Inuyasha to attempt a more permanent means of barring her return than a giant oak tree stuffed into the well shaft.

Draining her bowl in one undignified gulp, she set it down against the scrubbed wooden floor planks and looked warmly over at her friend.

"Of course I'll go with you, Sango-chan."

 


	6. Chapter Six

  **Chapter Six**

It was official.

She was losing her mind.

Kagome had caught herself staring off into the distance yet _again_. No matter what task she was currently engaged in—plucking weeds from the graves, assisting Sango in her workshop, cooking breakfast, or even carrying on conversation—her eyes, and her thoughts, kept straying west.

Only two days had elapsed since her last meeting with Sesshoumaru, but it might as well have been two years. To put it simply, she was _bored_. Bored out of her mind. This boredom was driving her to ridiculous conclusions, making her entertain certain theories which she _knew_ were insane.

Like the possibility that she might actually _miss_ his company.

Kagome snorted to herself. _Yeah, crazy._

Her eyes slid past the curtain of matted reeds, through the gap between it and the doorframe, to settle at last on the setting sun.

…But he challenged her. When she was with him—when he was driving her up the wall with confusion and indignation, or fighting her every step of the way to fix the stupid stump he'd sought her out for in the first place—she felt the need to prove herself. When she did, she felt empowered.

And when he caught her afterward under the full force of his dark, unfathomable gaze, she felt as if all the world had suddenly fallen away around her, and only she remained. To be the object of such a strong singularity of focus was gratifying, no matter how ill the source.

He despised her, that she knew. But the particulars eluded her. Or perhaps there were many reasons, apart from the obvious—namely, that she was human and had more or less rendered him an amputee.

Intuitively, she sensed it. Consciously, she rejected it, though it made no difference. The elusive _whys_ consumed her all the same.

She _wanted_ to understand him. Longed to understand him. Just as she felt the removal of the seal to now be an attainable goal, she had begun to feel the same way toward its bearer: that he, too, lay just beyond her reach.

 _But he's dangerous_ , a familiar voice of caution whispered in her mind. _Do you_ really _want to learn what makes a guy like that tick?_

Of course she did. She had always been _way_ too inquisitive for her own good. And the Lord of the Western Lands was one heck of an enigma.

This interest in him wasn't healthy, couldn't lead to anything good. How long it had been growing inside her, she couldn't say. Perhaps since the first time she'd broken through the seal. In front of her, _because_ of her, he'd lost his careful control, and she'd seen _it_ laid bare—the raw, terrible depth of feeling he carried beneath all the cool words and aloof expressions.

After that night, his manner toward her had never quite recovered. Rather, she had felt it slipping only further and further away. Like her, was he now hurtling toward some inevitable conclusion? Reluctant, yet daring to face it?

He had told her he'd be away for 'a few days' time.' Had 'a few' meant two, or three? It couldn't possibly mean four, could it? If she had to keep waiting around in restless anticipation like this—glancing over her shoulder every five minutes—for another _two days,_ they really would have to lock her up and throw away the key.

A sudden paranoid fear had her eyes opening wide.

What if he had already been trying to find her, but couldn't? She, Sango, and Kirara had traveled by air for the most part—had they left enough of a scent trail behind for him to follow? She hadn't had the chance to tell him she was leaving Edo village. Maybe she should have left him a note...

 _A note!_ She shook her head in disbelief. _Where the heck would I have left him a note? On Baa-chan's refrigerator?!_

"…Kagome-chan?"

"AHH!" she exclaimed with a start, turning toward Sango, who was looking at her with both brows raised and soup spoon frozen mid-stir. "Uh, sorry, Sango-chan! Er…what were we talking about?"

"You were telling me something concerning Inuyasha, before you drifted off again."

Kagome blanched. _Again?_ _Oh no…she's noticed._ Another voice whispered: _How could she_ not _?_

"You've been daydreaming a lot lately," Sango continued, her thoughtful look turning somewhat sly. "Thinking of Hojo-kun, perhaps?"

Somehow, the young miko managed to glower and redden at the same time, giving her the overall appearance of a disgruntled tomato. Yesterday, over lunch, she had related the experience of her first kiss to her taijiya friend. Clearly, that had been a mistake.

"No," she grumbled, crossing her arms. "I wasn't thinking about him at all…"

Although she kind of wished she _had_ been. At least that would have been a perfectly normal train of thought.

Catching her head turning toward the door, she jerked it back fast enough to give her a brief sensation of whiplash. Sango stared at her in mild concern.

"Anyway," Kagome said, cringing as she rubbed at her neck, "I've been putting off telling you and the others this, but Inuyasha confronted me about two weeks ago, pretty much saying that I'm not needed anymore and to return to my own time for good."

A scowl darkened Sango's pretty features. "He _did_ , did he?"

Seeing her fingers inching toward Hiraikotsu, Kagome grimaced. _This_ was the reason why she hadn't broached the subject sooner. With schoolwork and Sesshoumaru to contend with, the last thing she needed on her plate right now was a battle between Inuyasha and her friends.

"Wait up, Sango-chan!" she said quickly, putting up her hands. "Let's not do anything rash, okay? I just wanted to let you know about this in case I need to lie low around him for a little while. I think once he and Kikyou are hitched, he'll eventually cool off, but right now he's a loose cannon, and I can't stand to be around him." She let out a breath of air. "It might be best if I stick near Edo for a few weeks and catch up with you guys later on. I'll still be around if you need me, of course, and I can work on improving my miko skills in the meantime…"

… _And deal with Sesshoumaru, of course._

At this thought, a strange little thrill shot down her spine. Insanity, plain and simple.

"Forgive me," Sango sighed, her left hand retreating from Hiraikotsu, if somewhat reluctantly. "It's only that, since Kikyou-sama joined the group, I've been dreading this might come to pass. It angers me how Inuyasha has treated you— _hurt_ you—and I was afraid…" She met Kagome's eyes, smiling uneasily. "I was afraid you _would_ find it too unbearable to remain here in this time. You're my closest friend, Kagome-chan—the thought of losing your companionship frightens me."

Kagome gaped. _Sango_ , frightened? This was a girl who charged headfirst into hordes of bloodthirsty demons, who bravely faced the monster who had ordered the slaughter of her father and her village—and she was _scared_ at the prospect of losing Kagome as a friend?

If she'd had any doubts before about continuing her stay in Sengoku Jidai, they were gone now. She reached out, clasping the taijiya's hands in her own.

"Don't worry, Sango-chan. I'm not going anywhere," Kagome reassured her with a smile. "I promise."

**xXxXxX**

From under the shadow of the mountain, a pair of slitted eyes appeared, glowing crimson through the darkness. A rumbling voice, like the shifting of stones, reverberated through the surrounding chasms.

" _So…you are the one called Sesshoumaru…_ "

"I am," the inu daiyoukai answered, stepping forth.

" _Brave you are, or foolish…to come here, into my domain, reeking of the blood of my kin…_ "

"Your offspring dared to invade my lands," Sesshoumaru said in a cool, even tone. In one swift movement, he freed Tokijin from its sheath and leveled it before him with a click. "I have come here so that you would know: in the West, such trespassing does not go without punishment."

The red eyes narrowed. Sesshoumaru had an instant to leap back before a massive armored tail tore through the shadows, its scimitar of a sting splitting the rocky earth where he had stood.

" _Insolent whelp…you presume to lecture_ _ **me**_ _…_ "

The sting ripped free in a shower of stone as its owner—a hulking scorpion-like youkai—emerged from the gloom. In the dying light of the sun, the sand-colored plates shielding its body gleamed a burnished orange-red. As it advanced upon the Lord of the Western Lands, the points of its bladed appendages gouged pits into the canyon floor.

" _I have dwelt here in this mountain since before your father's time…I shall dwell here still, long after_ _ **you**_ _are dead…_ "

A dark smile of invitation spread across Sesshoumaru's face. _We shall see…_

The tail swung for him again, and he neatly dodged, falling once more into the easy rhythm of combat. He had spent the past two days tracking down this creature's interloping spawn, who had taken up residence in the frontier hills of his realm. Ruthlessly, he had slaughtered every one, hoping that the spill of their blood would dampen his ire.

His efforts had proved fruitless, so far.

Baring his fangs, Sesshoumaru brought Tokijin down hard toward the juncture of his enemy's head and back plates, but the scorpion daiyoukai shifted at the last moment, and his blade crashed against armor in an explosion of sparks. Another set of blood-red eyes on the creature's crown rolled toward him mockingly.

" _This body of mine was forged_ _in the deep heart of the world…_ " With alarming quickness the scorpion whirled, catching Sesshoumaru in the crushing grip of its gigantic pincer. " _You soft surface-dwellers are no match for me…_ "

Tokijin fell from the Western Lord's grasp as he braced his hand against one jagged side, forcing the pincer apart. The moment he slipped through, it slammed closed with a crash like thunder, shearing off the last few inches of his hair.

Lightly, he met the ground, the shattered pieces of his armor dropping away as he landed. A few feet to his right, Tokijin stood, its keen point cleaving the earth. Hungry for blood, the sword called to him, and he retrieved it with a smirk as he took to the skies.

_Finally…a worthy opponent._

Their fierce battle continued long into the night, yet Sesshoumaru found himself unable to properly enjoy it. Thoughts of that damnable girl kept entering his mind. The memory of her dismissal filled him with unspeakable fury—even more so as it recurred, and he imagined her carrying about her menial human tasks without sparing it, or him, so much as a moment's worth of consideration.

It was inconceivable to the daiyoukai, that she could drive him to such ferocity while she herself remained so unaffected. Were it not for her and the curse she had laid upon him, he would be whole and content in his Western territories, with Tessaiga resting in its rightful place at his side. Instead, he was here, crippled and enraged, breaching another youkai's domain in a futile attempt to purge her from his thoughts.

It detested him, shamed him, how he could not stop recalling the slide of her skin against his fingers, or the curve of her lips even as she casually sent him away. Nothing had ever held such power over him before.

" _How like your father you are…_ " the great scorpion taunted him as blazing red youki welled at the tip of its sting, returning Tokijin's energy blast with a fiery beam that gutted the canyon walls in its pursuit of the inu daiyoukai. Somewhere behind him, Sesshoumaru's retainer gave a frightened squeak, as great chunks of rock barreled toward the ground in the wake of this attack. " _You, too, prefer a human form…do you prefer their comforts as well?"_

Sesshoumaru snarled as he slammed Tokijin back into its sheath, much to the sword's dismay. In a whirlwind burst of youki, he transformed, the scorpion daiyoukai balking subtly at the sight of him. His steely claws scored the hard earth as he lunged, fangs sinking between the segments of his opponent's deadly tail and severing the sting in one violent wrench of jaw.

The scorpion screeched in agony as it reeled from him, the remainder of its bleeding tail crashing sideways into a wall of sheer stone. Pushing his advantage, Sesshoumaru charged his wounded adversary, snapping a few of its legs as he rammed it just below the side. When the armored creature flipped onto its back, the Western Lord pounced upon its softer underbelly, eviscerating it brutally with claw and fang, as if the beast below him were somehow responsible for _her_ crimes.

Breathing heavily, he returned to his humanlike shape, the black blood of his fallen foe still streaming from his mouth. He swiped a sleeve across his lips, the anger within him burning hot and dark as ever. No battle, he now knew, could quench this rage.

"Truly, milord's greatness knows no bounds!" Jakken cried as he appeared from behind an outcropping of rock. "It is said even your lord father did not dare to challenge Sutinguu-sama's claim of this mountain, yet milord has defeated the Great Scorpion of the North with such ease!"

"Jakken," Sesshoumaru said as he sloshed through the blood and viscera of the defeated daiyoukai, "if you wish to remain alive, do not speak to me of my father ever again."

"A-aye, milord," the imp stuttered, clutching the Nintoujou to his chest. "F-forgive me, milord…"

"Return to Rin and Ah-Un," the daiyoukai commanded, a cloud of youki gathering beneath his feet. "Await me there."

"Yes, Sesshoumaru-sama! A-at once," the little demon chirped, choking on dust as his lord left the ground.

Sesshoumaru sped through the sky toward Edo, a determined scowl twisting his features. He would find the girl and be rid of this curse tonight.

Before he even touched down at the edge of the human village, he could sense that the miko was not there. His first outraged suspicion was that she had traveled through the Bone-Eater's Well, yet neither there nor anywhere else on the outskirts of the village could he detect a fresh trail of her scent. Outrage dulled to irritation as he entered the town.

He appeared to have arrived here on the heels of some great festivity. Though the hour was late, many humans still lingered near the decorated shrine, feasting and chatting. Among the revelers, he spied the elderly miko who was responsible for the girl's training.

Approaching her from behind, he allowed his aura to flare briefly and alert her to his presence. The sake cup rising to her lips paused halfway as the aged priestess turned toward him with ruddy cheeks, squinting through the darkness.

"…Might ye be Sesshoumaru-sama?" she asked, a suppressed hiccup jolting her chest.

He ignored her inane question, saying without preamble, "Old woman, where is your apprentice?"

"Aye"— _hic_ —"I thought ye might be wanting to know." She finished her sip, regarding him steadily with her single visible eye. "Two days past, the child left for the ruined taijiya village to the east. Methinks ye will find her there still."

He knew the village of which she spoke. Without so much as a word, he turned from the sight-impaired priestess and prepared to take flight, catching a few mumbled phrases from her as he rose.

"…a cold fellow, that one…but comelier even than his brother, heh heh…"

 _Old_ , Sesshoumaru thought with a smirk, _but not so blind._

He arrived at the remains of the demon slayers' village a few hours before dawn. The girl's scent was heavy here, and in one of the huts which had been partially repaired, he sensed her slumbering reiki.

Pushing open the slatted reeds which served as a door, he entered the one-room dwelling, his gaze landing on her at once. Alone, she slept on a small futon in the middle of the floor, her long hair flooding out over the swept planks behind her, her attire even more indecent than usual. Above the edge of a blanket, her lean arms lay fully exposed, her chest nearly so, only two thin straps of white fabric descending from her shoulders to cover the topmost portion of her breasts.

His mutilated arm twinged as he approached, sinking down beside her. He studied her face, her smooth brow half-hidden by unruly bangs, sooty lashes twitching ever so slightly over her cheeks. The bow of her rose-colored lips was parted, her breath leaving her in the occasional sigh. Frowning absently, he trailed his fingertips along the warm edge of her jaw, retracting his hand abruptly when she turned and tucked her chin into his palm.

Sesshoumaru continued to draw back. Why had he come here? For one muddled instant, he had forgotten about the curse and his anger—had forgotten even his own name. Though never one to flee, he found himself considering the idea of leaving this place. He did not feel in control of himself, let alone the girl below him.

Yet as he wavered, she began to stir. Her leaden eyelids cracked open, and worse still, she began to speak.

"…Inuyasha?" she murmured.

The daiyoukai clenched his jaw. Bad enough, to be mistaken for the half-breed on any occasion, but under the current circumstances it was intolerable—not least of all for the dark flare of suspicion that came from envisioning certain _scenarios_ which might have prompted her to think of his half-brother instead.

"No, girl," he nearly growled.

Blinking, she raised herself up on her elbows, her eyes flying open in panic a moment later. She sat up suddenly, grabbing him by the front of his haori.

"Sesshoumaru!" she exclaimed, searching his face. "What happened to you?! You're covered in blood!"

However unnecessary, her concern caught him off-guard. A small measure of his tension ebbed away.

"It isn't mine," he told her simply.

"Kami…" she muttered, her shoulders sagging. "Of course it isn't." Her gleaming eyes scanned him nonetheless. "Did you wipe out an entire army?"

_More or less._

"I slew sixteen scorpion youkai, who had dared to nest in my lands without permission," he replied. "And their forebear, the daiyoukai Sutinguu."

"Wow." She stared. "All that in just two days?"

Somehow, her dubious admiration pleased him more than all of Jakken's effusive praise. He smirked slightly.

"Believe me, miko, I have accomplished far greater feats than that."

"Oh?" she said, perking. "Like what?"

As she smiled up at him, he became conscious once again of her closeness. He could feel the warmth of her hands through the silk lining his chest, the air between their lips stirring with every soft puff of her breath. From this angle, the valley between her breasts was on clear display, and it was such a tempting sight that he seized both her slender wrists in his hand and pushed her back, as the tide of his resentment came washing in.

"Miko," he said to her in a low tone, "I did not come to this place to regale you with tales of my victories." Releasing her, he wrenched up his stained and tattered left sleeve. "I am here so that you can remove this curse of yours once and for all."

Holding her left wrist, she looked up at him in bewilderment. "You mean…you want me to get rid of the whole thing _right now_?"

"Were my orders so unclear?" he said bitingly, narrowing his gaze. "You have told me how _simple_ it should be, if only I were to leave you to your own devices." He took her hand, pressing it to the flesh that ended just below his shoulder. "This Sesshoumaru will leave you to it, only see that it is done."

Her gaze flickered before hardening like flint. "Fine," she snapped, placing her other hand to his arm as well. "I'll do my best."

Her eyes closed as her reiki slid beneath his skin, seeking the seal. He could feel her surrounding it with holy energy as she had done once before, but instead of manipulating the embedded magic, her own just seemed to hold it. Occasionally, he sensed her testing the curse with gentle prods, though they felt rather ineffectual to him.

If not for her expression of intense concentration, he might have reprimanded her for dawdling. As it was, he simply watched her face for any sign of change, all while trying to convince himself that this was what he truly wanted—to be free of her from this day forth, to have no cause to cross paths with her ever again.

A part of him wanted nothing more than to push her back down to the futon and spend every ounce of this manic desire inside of her, yet he told himself that this part of him was the seal lodged in his flesh and therefore not a part of _him_ at all. Her isolated reiki longed to reconnect with the rest of her, and so it pulled him toward her of its own will, obscuring his in the process.

Once the curse was gone, his mind would be clear of this wretched fixation. He was sure.

Her expression changed.

A tiny gasp—a sound of unmistakable recognition—escaped her lips, and Sesshoumaru braced himself for the downfall of the curse. With bated breath, he waited for the end of his torment to come.

 _And if it doesn't, what will you do then?_ a dark voice whispered to him from within.

"…I'm sorry."

Her reiki retreated from him along with her touch as she turned away, refusing to meet his gaze. Her head hung in defeat.

"What are you doing?" he demanded, steering her back toward him by the shoulder. "Why did you stop?"

She continued to hide from him beneath her bangs. "I can't do this right now, Sesshoumaru. I-I'm too tired." Ducking out of his grip, she slipped under the thin blanket of her bedding and curled her knees to her chest. "Come back tomorrow night, okay? I promise I'll remove it then."

A long silence stretched between them, tense and forbidding. Only a fool would believe her excuse of exhaustion to be true, but he chose not to belabor the point. If she wanted to wait another day, he supposed he could allow it, especially since it would give him more time to weigh his options—in light of that nagging voice of doubt.

Rising, he headed for the entrance. Hand poised on the slatted reeds, he glanced back at her. Still she lay huddled to one side, her face concealed by blanket and hair.

"Tomorrow, then," he told her, as he pushed back the reeds and left.

Throughout the next day he considered the possible outcomes and how he might address them. By the time the sun set, he had reached a resolution.

If, even after the lifting of the curse, this obsessive want of his persisted…

He would eliminate the source.

**xXxXxX**

In a cave on the outskirts of Sango's village, Kagome held her lantern aloft before the petrified remains of the legendary priestess Midoriko and her youkai opponents. Here, in this very place, the Shikon no Tama had been born.

The Jewel itself was a sealing of souls. She raised her hand to Midoriko's chest, tracing her fingers lightly over the spot where the Jewel had been expelled, some hundreds of years before. It was a deep circular space, much larger than the pendant around her neck would ever grow to be.

 _Midoriko-sama,_ Kagome thought, looking up at the frozen features of the one who was, in a way, responsible for all this, _I know what this shape means. You made the Jewel in a moment of sheer desperation, right?_

She lowered the lantern, touching the smooth, completed side of her chunk of Shards. In the end, she had been partly right: it all _was_ simple, in theory. The form the Shikon no Tama had taken was that of a thought, a hope.

A _wish_ —Midoriko's wish, that the creation of the Jewel had never been necessary in the first place.

Yet centuries later, here they were, still fighting to carry out that simple task. The Jewel existed because of a wish, and the only way to destroy it was to wish for it _not_ to exist. But greed and hatred, lust and human weakness made the fulfillment of that wish a seemingly-complicated matter.

In the same way, the seal she had made was both simple and complex. It was born from a basic feeling, which, when distilled down to its components, was a tangled mess of thought, experience, and instinct.

Last night, she hadn't inferred the seal's shape from the collection of its parts. Maybe that was possible, but it would have taken a lot longer for her to figure out. Instead, as she'd held it within the grasp of her reiki, she'd decided to travel back in thought to the beginning: from the first time she'd laid eyes on Sesshoumaru up until that very moment at his side.

Gradually, under the lens of memory, the form of her enchantment had come into focus. She'd seen it finally for what it was—for what _she_ had been. Over the course of her relationship with Sesshoumaru, she had changed, and last night she had seen it all—what was and, more importantly, what _wasn't_. The difference had sent her reeling.

For all practical purposes, her end of the bargain was over. Tonight, she would remove the seal, and he would have his arm back and be out of her life. Just like she'd always wanted, right?

Kagome huffed, blinking past the sting in her eyes.

She hadn't slept a wink after he'd left, nor eaten anything at all today. The truth was that she _wasn't_ ready for things to be over between them. Funny she should realize that now, here at the end.

There was still so much about him she didn't understand. She'd thought she'd have more time to figure him out under the pretense of breaking the seal, but that wasn't meant to be. To her, it all felt so sudden and incomplete—like a story ending before it really began.

It was her own fault for being so curious and for forming attachments so easily. But she _was_ , and she _had_. And now it was over. She would go back to studying and hunting for Jewel Shards ( _hopefully_ ), and he would go back to…well, whatever it was he did as Lord of the Western Lands.

Preparing herself as best she could, Kagome turned and exited the cave. She wasn't the least bit surprised to see him already standing out there in the darkness, at the edge of the woods.

"Sesshoumaru," she said, trotting up to him with the lantern. "You're still not wearing your armor?"

His patterned white haori and hakama were whole and unblemished once more, his yellow obi now wrapped directly above his clothing with Tokijin and Tenseiga tucked through at the hip. He was still an imposing sight, to be sure, but without the heavy armor, he seemed strangely exposed.

"It was destroyed yesterday in the course of battle," he answered, looking at her narrowly. "Are you attempting to detain me with questions, miko?"

"No," Kagome said, bristling. "It just struck me as weird, that's all."

"Hn."

With that he turned, leading her into the wilderness surrounding the village. A clearing came into view a short distance in. The moment they stopped there, Sesshoumaru began to roll up his sleeve.

"Wait," Kagome told him as she set down her lantern on a flat rock. "That's not really necessary…"

He glanced at her sharply. "What are you saying? Did you not swear you would end the curse tonight?"

"Yes, but…" Wringing her hands nervously, she took a few steps closer. "Listen, Sesshoumaru…last night I realized what had caused the seal to form. Kikyou told me something important a few days ago: she said that the key to placing a seal is also the key to removing it, or—I don't know—something like that. A-anyway," she continued hastily, noting the thinning of his lips, "what I'm trying to say is that none of this poking and prodding really matters one bit. The answer's been inside my brain this whole time, though I don't think I've been capable of using it until now…"

"And why is that?" he asked briskly, arching a dark silver brow. "What has changed?"

 _Well now,_ she thought with a crooked grin, _that_ is _the question, isn't it?_

She began to step forward again.

"When I created the seal all those months ago, it was because you had me cornered and scared to death. My _fear_ of you was what set the seal and kept it in place." She shook her head. "But all that's over now."

She stopped before him, a wistful smile tugging at her lips.

"I'm not afraid of you," she said softly, reaching up and cupping his cheek. "Not anymore."

His golden eyes widened as a subtle tremor of power rippled through the air. The latent reiki in his stump dispersed like mist.

The seal she had placed upon him was broken.

With a short sound of pain, Sesshoumaru fell to his knees, clutching at his left shoulder. Panicked, Kagome crouched down beside him, her hands fluttering over his.

"Sesshoumaru!" she said in distress. "Sesshoumaru, what's wrong? Oh god…"

Youki swirled around the remains of his left arm in an electric storm of black and green. Demonic energy cracking sharply against her skin, Kagome released him and rocked back on her heels. One hand rose to cover her mouth. It was like his whole aura was pouring out!

Before her eyes, the stump started to change. The skin at the base split open in a bright red gash. To her horror, something white began to peek out, and she whimpered low in her throat, thanking every deity she'd ever heard of that her stomach was currently running on empty. Hazarding a look at Sesshoumaru's face, she saw that his jaw was locked tight, his eyes screwed shut in obvious agony.

The white thing, she could tell now, was bone. As it lengthened, new flesh followed in its wake, and Kagome watched as muscle, vein, nerve and skin knit slowly outward from the opened stump. The sight of it all growing back together again was the most gruesome and amazing thing she'd ever seen.

By the time his left hand formed, she was leaning forward again, peering close in fascination. Around the tips of his finger bones, the spreading flesh sealed, pale and smooth. From the tops of his new fingers, claws sprouted, tapering into fine ivory points half an inch or so out from his skin.

Unable to resist, she brushed her own fingertips over his, eliciting a reflexive twitch. His hands were beautiful, really—strong yet slender, delicately yet dangerously clawed. She stroked the back of his hand, feeling the fine bones underneath, knowing that they were stronger than the toughest steel.

Her gaze traveled up his wrist, past his elbow to the place where his arm had been severed by Tessaiga—or at least, where she _thought_ it had been. The muscle below his shoulder was perfectly formed, the skin above it seamless. She could see no outward indication that he had ever been missing a limb.

Now at last, her task was complete. Her friends were safe, and she was free.

Dismally, Kagome sighed.

Her eyes strayed again to his face, her spine going rigid when she saw that he was staring back. For someone who had just regenerated an arm out of the blue, he didn't seem particularly thrilled. In fact, he looked downright murderous.

Realizing she was still touching his hand, Kagome withdrew, scrambling to her feet. Of course he wouldn't want her prodding at his new appendage. Maybe it was sensitive, or maybe he just didn't appreciate being treated like a petting zoo.

"Sorry!" she said, clasping her hands before her as she ducked her head contritely. "I was just, well, amazed. It's not every day I get to see an entire arm grow back."

When she glanced up again, she saw that he had also risen from the ground, a deep frown etched across his stony face. His expression was dark as he contemplated his new set of claws.

"So," he said to her eventually, in a tone that had gooseflesh rising on her skin, "you say that you are not afraid of this Sesshoumaru…"

He glared over at her, eyes coppery with the hue of blood. He flexed his stiff fingers, knuckles cracking as he tested them, his translucent claws long and deadly sharp, poised like talons as he turned and stalked slowly toward her.

"You should be."

Kagome paled, retreating a step, her hands rising before her in what she hoped was a placating gesture. "Sesshoumaru, hold on…let's talk about this for a second—"

"There is nothing to discuss," he cut her off savagely. "I agreed to spare the lives of your companions. I said nothing about your own."

"What…" she breathed in hurt and confusion. Her foot stumbled a little over a jutting rock. "Why…why do you want to kill me? I-I helped you restore your arm…" She looked at him in anguish, her voice breaking as it fell. "What have I done to you, to deserve this?"

Her back hit something hard behind her—a tree, she guessed—and he closed the distance, his clawed hand curving around her neck. She could still breathe normally, but if he applied any more pressure, she'd be in trouble.

"What have you _done_ ," he repeated in a low, scathing voice, bringing his red eyes level with hers. "You…have _ruined_ me!"

His grip tightened, and she gasped, "Please! I don't understand…"

But he wasn't about to enlighten her, apparently. The smooth magenta stripes on his cheeks had grown jagged, his pupils shrinking to slits of black. Her hands clutched at his wrist in an attempt to convey her desperation, but it was like trying to reach through stone.

" _A quick death_ … _I can give you that at least_ …" His voice had deepened to a gravelly rumble, his lips peeled back, exposing his elongated fangs. " _For your cooperation…_ "

Her lungs were struggling now to draw breath, but still she wasn't afraid. Only sad. Tears leaked from the corners of her eyes as she threaded her fingers through the ones grasping her throat.

"Sesshou…maru…please…"

She wasn't pleading _with_ him so much as _for_ him. Because, deep down, Kagome sensed that this wasn't what he wanted to do.

Sesshoumaru's hold loosened.

His fingers slid down to the base of her neck as she choked, swallowing down entirely too much air. Through her blurred vision, she could see that his markings had returned to their normal shape, but his gaze was still bloody and fierce, shadowed by some sentiment she still didn't comprehend.

" _Weak_ …" Sesshoumaru said in a bitter snarl as his hand moved lower down her front, settling at last on her hip in a firm clasp.

When he pressed the length of his body against hers, realization dawned at last.

"Just like _him_ ," he rasped against her neck.

His lips parted again, fangs grazing her skin as his tongue ventured out to taste her. Kagome sucked in a breath of shock. She gripped his shoulders, her heart hammering erratically beneath her ribs.

_This…this can't be happening!_

But it was. The hand not holding her hip—the hand that _she_ had helped bring back into existence—was now smoothing down and over her long sleeve, slipping between them to grasp at her covered breast. Overwhelmed, she trembled at the contact, pushing futilely against him.

"Sesshoumaru, stop…"

She wasn't prepared for this. She'd only just had her first _kiss_ , for Kami's sake! And this was _Sesshoumaru_ —the same guy who mocked Inuyasha's relationship with Kikyou at every turn and made no secret of his contempt for humankind.

And now his fingers were pushing up the hem of her skirt.

"…Stop!"

_He isn't going to._

"Sesshoumaru…!"

_He isn't listening._

Something hard was jabbing against her stomach. He buried his face in the juncture of her neck and shoulder, growling her name.

" _Kagome…_ "

 _No!_ her mind screamed in denial of her physical response. _This isn't right…This isn't how it's supposed to be!_

Her thoughts were a whirlwind of confusion and uncertainty. Hooked in the thin band of her underwear, his claws pulled back, the torn elastic snapping against her hip with a whip-crack sound, startling her into action.

As his thumb swept in an arc over her inner thigh, she brought her hands down against his chest, a steely glint in her eyes. Reiki surged within her, more white than pink as she channeled it down her arms with blinding, unthinking speed.

"Sesshoumaru, STOP!"

His head jerked up as her spiritual energy slammed into him unchecked, his eyes clearing from red to gold in the dazzling blast of light. The force of it threw him back across the clearing, where he collapsed to the ground.

Panting, Kagome hunched over, bracing her palms against her knees. As her adrenaline high faded, she noted the depletion of her reiki, the smell of scorched flesh that filled the air. Slowly, she raised her watery eyes to the other side of the clearing.

_No…Sesshoumaru..._

He wasn't moving.

Straightening, she staggered over to his still form, rolling him onto his back. His eyes were closed, his unarmored chest a mass of smoking black. There had been nothing between them, nothing to absorb her attack but the daiyoukai himself. All of her reiki…all of it had coursed through him.

"No," she whispered brokenly, cradling her face in her hands. "What have I done…?"

 


	7. Chapter Seven

  **Chapter Seven – Interlude**

_Eight Months Later_

“He-ey, Kagome-chan…Earth to Kagome!—Are you alive in there?”

Kagome winced as a set of knuckles rapped her sharply on the head. Glaring over at Yuka, she massaged the tender spot of her injury, umbrella hanging lopsidedly overhead.

“ _Ow_ ,” she muttered, “was that really necessary?”

“’Course it was!” Yuka replied primly, her own polka-dot umbrella resting at a jaunty angle in the crook of her elbow. “You were at least a million miles away. I had to do _something_ to bring you back.”

 _Oh, I’d say I was farther away than that_ , Kagome mused, setting her rain gear to rights.

With a sigh, she gazed up at the iron sky. No sign of this icy rain letting up anytime soon. Still, for January, it was pretty warm—

“ _Anyway_ ,” Yuka huffed, distracting Kagome from her ruminations on the weather, “I was asking you if you had any plans for Saturday. Me and Jun-kun, and Eri-chan and Yarata-kun, were thinking about dinner and a movie. There’s this new one out, about a girl who falls in love with a serial-killing alien—only, she doesn’t know about the serial-killer part…”

Kagome felt her attention beginning to wander again, as Yuka launched into a passionate defense of the alien serial-killer, who was horribly misunderstood in his plight against the human-impersonating cyborgs—one of which was apparently the former high school sweetheart of the heroine.

“…so it’s basically a love triangle!” Yuka concluded in a rush.

“Uh huh,” Kagome responded, blinking. Even after only catching bits and pieces of all that, she felt like she didn’t even _need_ to go see the movie. “That, uh, sounds pretty interesting, Yuka-chan.” She shifted, a few fat drops of rain skittering off the edge of her umbrella. “But I don’t want to be the fifth wheel.”

“Well you _wouldn’t_ be,” Yuka pointed out in suspiciously casual tone, “if Jun-kun were to, say, bring _Sano-kun_ along as well…”

Kagome gave her short-haired friend a flat look. Yuka’d been trying to set her up with this Sano guy for weeks.

“I told you, Yuka-chan, I’m not interested.”

“But Sano-kun is super hot! Not as hot as Jun-kun, of course.” Yuka flushed, a goofy grin pulling at her lips. A faraway look briefly entered her eyes—one which Kagome was all too happy not to learn the story behind. “…Anyway…he and Jun-kun are best friends—it would be perfect!”

 _Perfect for_ you _, anyway_. Kagome’s lips twisted wryly.

“Sorry…but I don’t think he’s my type.”

Yuka brought her foot down on the wet pavement, a mirror-burst of droplets exploding outward from the sheer force of her frustration. “And what exactly _is_ your type, Kagome-chan—delinquents? _Yakuza_?” She shook her head ruefully. “Poor Hojo-kun…he never stood a chance.”

Kagome scowled. Pretending to check her watch, she turned on her heel and set off down the street.

“Well, gotta run,” she called back shortly with a wave. “Have fun on your double-date, Yuka-chan.”

“Grrr! Kagome-chaaaan!” Yuka hollered after her. “I-I shouldn’t have said that but—! I just don’t want you to _keep making bad choices in men_ …!”

 _Too late for that_ , Kagome thought with a sigh.

The dangerous type was her _only_ type, it seemed.

Try as she might, she couldn’t put the events of that last night with Sesshoumaru out of her mind. They had changed her. _He_ had changed her.

Kagome’s eyes slid briefly shut.

He had changed… _everything_.

_“No...” she whispered brokenly, cradling her face in her hands. “What have I done…?”_

_She’d never meant for this to happen. She’d only wanted him to stop. To come to his senses again so that they could talk this out. What he’d been doing to her…it had been too much, and now…now he was…_

_She bit her lip to stifle a sob._

_…It was all her fault. She couldn’t control her stupid power, and unprotected, he had—_

_A soft pulse of energy rippled through the air._

_She glanced up in surprise, her face wet with tears. As she looked at him, it happened again, and she saw—saw Tenseiga emitting a faint glow of blue at his hip._

_Unarmored, he’d been _. B_ ut never unprotected…_

Kagome sighed again as the shrine came into sight. The rain had stopped at last, and the grey clouds above were parting, a sliver of moon peeking out from between the cracks.

_…It was faint, but she could see now that he was breathing. A tremulous smile split her tearstained face._

_“Thank…thank the gods…”_

_Mesmerized, she watched the subtle rise and fall of his chest. But her feeling of relief didn’t last for long._

_The dark edge of his blast wound was shrinking fast. Soon, he’d regain consciousness, and when he did…_

_Swallowing thickly, she clambered to her feet._

_…when he did, he’d kill her this time for sure._

It was a slow trek up the slippery shrine steps. Her feet felt like lead. The textbooks at her back weighed her down like slabs of rock. But as she reached the top, and the well house came into view at last, her heart was heaviest of all.

 _“Sango-chan!” she exclaimed breathlessly as she stumbled through the curtain of reeds, almost crashing to the floor in her exhaustion. “Sango-chan, wake up! We have to go—_ now _!”_

_Ever alert, Sango sat up at all the clamor, reaching reflexively for Hiraikotsu before her eyes even fully opened. Next to her, Kirara flared to wakefulness as well._

_“Kagome-chan?” Sango said a moment later, blinking. Seeing Kagome’s distress, the taijiya’s shoulders squared, her grip on the boomerang tightening. She rose quickly to her feet, dark eyes hard and glittering. “Kagome-chan, what’s wrong? Are we under attack—”_

_“No,” Kagome interrupted her on a rasp, bracing her hands on her knees, “…no time to explain. We have to get out of here…right now!”_

_They had to get back to Edo. They couldn’t stay here. Her reiki was as good as gone, and as much as she respected Sango’s abilities, even up against a weakened Sesshoumaru she’d stand no chance. He was just too fast, too strong._

_To Kagome’s dismay, the proud taijiya only steeled her spine. “If it is a youkai—”_

_She lurched forward, grabbing Sango by the shoulders as she locked eyes with her friend’s widened gaze. “Sango, for Kami’s sake, we_ have _to go!” She grit her teeth, hot tears stinging at the corners of her eyes. “Please…_ please _, Sango-chan… just trust me on this…”_

Kagome’s head bowed as she turned the doorknob. Inside, the kitchen was warm and bright, a pot of miso simmering on the stove. At the counter, Mrs. Higurashi looked up from her cutting board with a smile.

“Kagome, dear,” she greeted. “How was school today?”

“Oh…fine,” Kagome answered distractedly as she headed for the stairs. “I got an A on my pre-calc exam.”

“How wonderful!” Her mother beamed. “I’m so proud of you!”

Kagome nodded her thanks and continued on. A frown stole over her features as she felt her mother’s happiness dimming with familiar concern. While Kagome’s friends picked up on her melancholy from time to time, only Mrs. Higurashi could see that the gloom was ever-present, its shadow looming over her daughter like her own personal cloud.

Tensing, Kagome paused with one hand on the railing, but what could she say? What could _either_ of them say? Neither she nor her mother were all that good at pretending, and rehashing the same painful facts wouldn’t make them any easier for her to bear.

Lashes lowering, she climbed…

_…down from Kirara’s back, her weak knees almost giving out beneath her as she hit the ground. The whole flight back to Edo had been one of tense silence. Kagome’s eyes had looked back more than they’d looked forward, certain that at any moment she’d see a white figure racing through the sky behind them._

_But they’d made it back. They were safe._

_“Kagome-chan,” Sango said as she lighted at her side, a note of irritation in her voice, “are you going to tell me what all of that was about?”_

_Kagome looked at her, uncertain. Even now that it was over, she was still strangely reluctant to part with her secret._

_“There was a demon,” she began hesitantly. “A really powerful guy. I managed to knock him out for a bit, which is why we had to leave. He’ll be beyond angry when he wakes up, but he wouldn’t come around here injured—”_

_Kagome broke off, turning away with a sudden sharp intake of breath. Idiot._

_She’d been such an_ idiot _, to think that she was safe here…_

_“…Kagome-chan?”_

_There was a light touch on her shoulder, but Kagome scarcely felt it._

_He would never stop hunting her. When he regained his strength, he would come after her wherever she was, and if her friends tried to stop him from exacting his revenge, he would kill them too._

_Her life was one thing, but her friends’ were another matter entirely. She hadn’t gone through all that effort to protect them only to lose them to his rage. A rage that was_ her _fault,_ her _crime._

_Her eyes lifted toward Inuyasha’s forest, toward a small clearing hidden by the trees._

_There was only one thing she could do._

Her feet reached the landing. Slowly, she tread across the hall to her bedroom. Her fingers found the handle to the door and pushed it back…

_...the curtain swaying stiffly as she trudged into Inuyasha and Kikyou’s new hut, the hanyou’s eyes flying open at once. The blanket fell from his chest as he shot up angrily, and she saw that he was naked beneath it—and Kikyou too, judging by the pale curve of shoulder peeking out through the locks of her hair._

_This was certainly awkward, but it could have been worse. She did her best not to stare._

_“What the hell are you doing in here, wench? Can’t ya see we’re trying to sleep?!”_

_“Yeah,” she muttered, moving forward, “thank Kami for that…”_

_She drew to a stop before their futon, a heavy frown creasing her face. Below her, she saw Kikyou regarding her in question, but the dead priestess did not speak or stir. Kagome locked eyes with her briefly as she reached behind her neck._

_“…How come you smell like Sesshoumaru?” Inuyasha questioned her narrowly, his hackles rising. “Is that asshole in the village?”_

_“No.”_

_With a soft thud, her misshapen pendant fell to the blankets at their feet._

_“Huh…?” Inuyasha’s dark brows drew together in genuine confusion. He stared at the uncompleted Jewel. “What’s_ this _, all of a sudden?”_

_“Just doing what you said,” Kagome replied, her tone empty with defeat as she turned back toward the entrance. “I’m going home…”_

_One hand on the doorframe, she paused, glancing back._

_“…For good.”_

Her backpack slid from her shoulders as she dropped to the floor in a heap. How many months had passed since that night, yet she _still_ couldn’t stop replaying those events in her head. Still couldn’t forget the vague look of disappointment in Kikyou’s eyes, or the way Sango’s expression had crumpled when she’d pushed past her on her way to the Bone-Eater’s Well.

 _“I’m sorry…”_ she’d said, but her apology didn’t make her any less of a liar.

She’d broken her word to Sango, betrayed her friends’ trust. But she’d kept them safe. Shouldn’t that be enough to make up for her guilt?

Kagome hugged her knees to her chest with a whimper. Why _wasn’t_ it enough?

Why couldn’t she leave the past behind?

Kami knows she’d tried.

“Kagome!” her mother’s ringing voice called up the stairs. “Dinner time!”

The next few hours passed in the same well-worn routine. She ate dinner with her mother and grandfather and Souta. She sat in the den and watched the latest episode of a popular drama she’d used to like. Somehow, now, the protagonist’s slow-burning romance with her standoffish boss didn’t entertain her as much as it once had.

After the show was over, she soaked in a bath that didn’t soothe her and attacked the homework that no longer fought her back. Her grades had never been better in all her life. Since returning from her final trip to Sengoku Jidai, she’d thrown herself into her studies with a kind of manic enthusiasm. Even with all her absences, she’d still been able to get into the high school of her choice, small consolation though it was.

As she tapped her pencil idly against her textbook, the phone near her desk lamp began to ring. Kagome didn’t bother answering it. She had a pretty good idea who it might be.

When her mother shouted up to her again, she realized she’d been right.

“Hojo-kun?” Kagome said as she raised the phone to her ear, trying not to sound as reluctant as she felt. “...What’s up?”

“Ah, Higurashi!—it’s good to hear you sounding so well.” A staticky pause. “Have you looked at Taguchi-sensei’s assignment yet?”

Kagome glanced at a binder perched near the corner of her desk. The assignment still wasn’t due for another two weeks, but she’d finished it yesterday.

“Yeah,” she replied slowly, “I’ve looked at it.”

They discussed the particulars of the essay assignment for a few minutes, but Kagome knew this wasn’t the real reason why he’d called. Was it ever?

“Higurashi, I was wondering”—Kagome grimaced, thinking, _Here we go again…_ —“I mean, I was _hoping_ …that you might want to get together sometime this weekend?—Just to talk.”

“Hojo-kun, I…”

“I miss you,” he said bluntly, and Kagome tensed in her chair. Another pause. She could almost hear him deflating on the other end of the line. “I…Higurashi, please…won’t you at least hear me out? It’s been two months now, but I can’t stop thinking about how things ended between us. I still don’t really understand it…”

 _Me either_ , Kagome admitted to herself, bracing her cheek in her hand as her thoughts traveled back along the path of recent memory.  _But that’s probably because I’m a little screwed up inside..._

“…I think if we took a step back…”

 _...He pressed her up against the wall of their empty classroom, her fingers tangling in his short brown hair as she sighed into his mouth. His lips and tongue were gentle and questing—_ worshipful _—as they moved against her own, and she urged him down harder with her hands…_

“…took things slower…”

_…There was too much space between them. His grip on her arms was too gentle. Kissing him roughly, she removed one of his hands, smoothed it down her side. When his thumb skimmed the curve of her breast, he gasped into her. When she shoved his hand beneath her skirt, they both recoiled in shock…_

“…then maybe…”

_…That afternoon she met him in the courtyard, her eyes remorseful as she lifted them to his._

_“Hojo-kun, I’m…”_

“…I’m sorry,” Kagome blurted out, cringing at her own harshness. “I…Hojo-kun, I really _am_ , but I-I just can’t be with you anymore!”

Before he could say another word, she disconnected the call, slumping her upper-half over the desk—languishing there like the sick-hearted creature she was.

But how could she tell Hojo the truth? How could she look him in the eye and tell him that she didn’t want his tenderness and sweet affections?

That what she _wanted_ was a devotion of an entirely different nature.

Peeling herself up from the scattering of textbooks and papers, Kagome collapsed onto her bed, eventually wriggling her way between the sheets. It was always at night when she thought of him most—Sesshoumaru, the pale specter who'd continued to haunt her from beyond the well.

Nighttime had been _their_ time, once. Before she’d gone and destroyed it all by wielding a power she didn’t fully comprehend. Sure he’d pushed her to it, at the end, but she couldn’t seem to stop blaming herself for what had happened, or reliving the events of that last night.

Even in her sleep she returned to the forest outside of the demon slayer’s village. Returned to the clearing with the tree at her back. She heard the raw need in his voice as he pinned her in, felt it as he seized her, seeking entrance.

Sometimes, in her dreams, she _let_ him.

And, sometimes, like tonight, her dreams just weren’t enough.

Restless, Kagome flipped onto her back, one hand squeezing her breast through the fabric of her camisole as the other trailed down to her hip. Her fingers eased beneath the waistband of her shorts, settling on her bare thigh. With a sigh she retraced the route his hands had taken—and then she projected it, imagining his hot mouth latching onto her nipple, his clawed thumb roughly circling the tender bud of her sex before grazing lower, delving between her folds, thrusting inside her as he hooked one of her legs around his waist.

His thumb retreated, and she could feel him hard against her, panting her name into her neck again as he breached her at last, her spine arching at the force of it, her head snapping back against the tree bark. Each crash of his hips shook her at the foundation. When the blood-hued intentness of his gaze clashed with hers, she was unmade at last.

A soft short cry escaped her. Spent, Kagome collapsed against the mattress, her fingers still trapped within her pulsating heat. Breathing heavily, she withdrew them, the glistening wetness webbing between them as they parted.

 _“You…have_ ruined _me!”_ he’d snarled at her back then, right before his hand had tightened around her throat.

With a bitter chuckle, Kagome wiped her sticky fingers against the cloth of her shorts. “Yeah, well…looks like you’ve ‘ruined me’, too.”

She drifted off into a fragile sleep. Sometime in the night, it shattered.

Kagome bolted upright, as if from a nightmare. She breathed in deeply, eyes darting around her room as she gained her bearings, her fist crushed against her chest.

A startling clarity had descended over her. Like the clearing of smoke from her eyes, or water from her ears, she perceived her surroundings with new awareness. And _within_ her—within her, she felt indescribably… _whole_.

For a moment, she sat in awe of the sensation, before a familiar flickering pulled her to her feet, sent her running toward the well shed for the first time in months. Her soles padded up the wooden steps, fingers wrenching back the door—

Her jaw fell slack at the sight before her. Her heart plummeted to the floorboards below.

There on the lip of the well sat Inuyasha, his amber eyes dark with pain as he raised them to her own. His silver hair was matted red, deep miasmic gouges cratering his chest. In his battered right hand, he gripped a bloodstained longbow, its severed string trailing limply across the floor.

As she stared on in mute disbelief, his mouth wrenched open with effort. An agonized whisper rasped out.

“Kagome…Kikyou, she’s…”

Inuyasha’s teeth slammed shut, teardrops dripping silently down his cheeks. He couldn’t bring himself to say aloud what Kagome had already feared. The wholeness she’d felt, the bloody bow in his hand…

_Kikyou…_

Her back met with the doorframe, sliding down.

_Kikyou is dead._


	8. Chapter Eight

  **Chapter Eight**

  

The smell of sickness filled the air—stale and lingering, a stench that had hovered for days inside the dark confines of Inuyasha and Kikyou's gloomy hut. In one corner a lone candle stood vigil over the remaining owner, its pale light shivering at the edge of Kagome’s vision, her hands as weak and trembling as the flame.

“Come now, child. That’s enough.”

Wizened fingers pulled at her wrists, attempting to pry her from Inuyasha’s unconscious form.

“No,” she rasped. Her grip tightened on his inner haori. “There must still be some miasma in his blood. I have to purify it. I have to—”

“ _Kagome_ ,” Kaede interrupted sternly, the wrinkled corners of her lips firming into a frown, “ye know as well as I that no trace of Naraku’s poison remains within him.”

The young miko’s trembling intensified. “Then, why…why isn’t he getting better?” Her voice fell to a whisper as she slid a hand to the hanyou's bloodless cheek. “Why, Inuyasha?—why won’t you just wake up?”

Heedless of her distress, Inuyasha slumbered on. After a while, Kaede sighed.

“Ye need to rest, child. Ye have done all ye can for him, for now.”

Kagome shook her head even as she allowed the elderly miko to pull her gently away. The moment her head hit the futon, sleep claimed her.

Sometime later, she awoke to the feeling of a hand upon her own.

“Kagome,” a voice called out to her weakly.

She sat up sluggishly. Inuyasha had rolled toward her, his golden eyes fogged with pain, lids at half mast. She crawled over to him and grapsed his upper arm, desperate with hope and fear at once.

“Inuyasha,” she breathed, her eyes already beginning to sting.

“Kagome,” he murmured again, his lashes fluttering as he struggled to hold open his eyes, “are the others around?”

“No,” Kagome replied, beginning to stand. “Do you want me to go get them? I’m sure they’re not far…”

Inuyasha tossed his head in agitation. “No—don’t go. There’s just something I gotta say…just to you.”

She knelt back down, a deep frown pulling at her lips. “Inuyasha…” she began. An ominous feeling sank through her stomach like a ball of lead.

He made a sound—a short feeble bark of laughter. “You always know, don’t ya, wench? Even from the start, you’ve always been able to tell what I was thinking. I bet you know exactly what it is I gotta say.”

She shook her head. “You don’t have to say anything to me, Inuyasha.”

“Keh. Like hell I don’t.” Grimacing, he rolled with effort onto his back. “…I’m dying, Kagome.”

“No,” she said at once, her jaw clenching painfully tight. “No, you’re not.”

His ears flattened to his head. “I am, and you know it. Look at me.”

She looked. Looked at his sunken cheeks and clouded eyes, at the limpness of his hair and the shallow rise and fall of his chest. The poison Naraku had inflicted upon him was gone. She had poured enough reiki into him to cleanse the miasma from his veins a dozen times over. He should be healing. And yet she could see that he was not.

 _There’s another poison there_ , she realized as she studied his expression. _Why didn’t I notice it before?_

“It still smells like her, this place,” Inuyasha mumbled, his eyelids drooping. For a moment, Kagome thought he had drifted off again. Then his voice met her ears, faint and strained. “I lost her, Kagome.” He swallowed thickly. “I can’t believe I lost her to him…again.”

“Please don’t give up, Inuyasha,” she whispered, her voice soft with desperation. “We’re going to find Naraku. You can still avenge Kikyou's death.”

“What does it matter?” he said gruffly, his head lolling back to stare at the ceiling. “Killing him won’t bring her back. He already destroyed us—fifty years ago, when he took her away from me the first time. I’m not stupid, Kagome. I know the Kikyou that came back to me was only a clay shell. We were just kidding ourselves, pretending, but I don’t regret it.” He paused, amber eyes sliding toward her. “…Except for one thing.”

Kagome tensed, her breath catching dry in her throat. These things he was saying seemed horribly out of place to her. Inuyasha was not himself, and it frightened her, thinking of what it must mean.

“It was really shitty, the way I treated you,” he continued awkwardly. Kagome dug her nails into her knees as the ramifications of his words slammed into her. “You didn’t deserve that, and I—”

“Stop it,” she grit out, the corners of her eyes beginning to sting. “I don’t want to hear this right now.”

She couldn’t take it, whatever it was this sick person was trying to tell her. She didn’t want some death-bed confession. She wanted him to get better, to get up and be Inuyasha again.

“I’m trying to _apologize_ to you, wench,” Inuyasha growled at her, but the sound had no real threat behind it, anymore.

She hated it. Right now, she even kind of hated him.

“I don’t want your apology, Inuyasha. I want you to keep your word. You promised me we'd find the Jewel shards together—you _promised_.”

As soon as the words left her mouth, she realized her error. What right had _she_ to demand that anyone uphold their promise, when she had broken hers so thoroughly? Kagome bowed her head.

She was the worst sort of hypocrite, and beneath the pain of that knowledge dwelt another, more terrible kind—the utter agony of betrayal. Was this what Sango and the others had felt the day she disappeared down the well without a backward glance? This pain that ripped her hollow, that left her gutted and desolate in its wake?

No, she hadn’t deserved Inuyasha’s treatment of her…but this awful feeling inside her, she knew, was exactly what her own actions had brought.

“…I’m sorry, Kagome.”

Inuyasha’s voice grew faint as he drifted off again. Alone now in the hut, Kagome sagged beneath the full crushing weight of her fear. She lay down on the floorboards next to his futon and curled herself into his side. Her tears were almost invisible as they trailed down the thick white fabric of his sleeve.

“Don’t leave me, Inuyasha,” she sobbed into his hair. “Please, _please_ , don’t leave…”

She had no right to demand it of him, no right even to ask, considering what she’d done. In the back of her mind, she knew it was pointless anyway.

When had Inuyasha ever chosen her over Kikyou?

**xXxXxXx**

It was a cold, bitter day in early February when they gathered together before Goshinboku and scattered Inuyasha’s ashes to the wind. In the end, Kagome was the one to release him. With empty eyes, she watched the pile of ash shrink above the dead winter grass, as the icy breeze bore her friend swiftly away.

The glittering ash motes careened into the ether. Kagome’s cheeks were raw and red from the tears and the merciless elements, her cold skin warm in comparison to the chill that gripped her heart.

They had laid his sword and outer clothing at the base of the tree. The robe of the fire-rat wouldn’t burn, of course, but the rest of what he’d carried with him had been taken with his body into the flames—the subjugation beads as well. He was free now, truly and completely. She wondered if his soul had reunited with Kikyou’s yet, or if it was searching still.

She hoped wherever Inuyasha was that he was content. That would make one of them, at least.

Empty urn in hand, Kagome turned away from Goshinboku’s winter skeleton. Her friends stood silent behind her, their faces pale with weariness and grief. Even Shippou wore a grim expression, his little shoulders hunched beneath a weight of sadness no child should have to bear. One tiny clawed hand clutched the flowing leg of Kaede’s hakama. When a moment later he began to cry, the elderly priestess scooped him up into her arms and quietly left the clearing.

 _Shippou-kun…_ Kagome’s heart tore anew as she watched them go. Once, she would have been the one to wipe away his tears. But she had lost that privilege. What kind of mother abandoned her child?

Sango was the next to go. Her left arm leaned on a makeshift crutch as she limped along with difficulty—still struggling to recover from that last, terrible confrontation with Naraku. She did not speak to Kagome as she passed her by, nor even look her way. The young miko was hurt, but not surprised. The only thing Sango _had_ said to Kagome since her return was that she had nothing to say.

“Sango-chan,” Kagome whispered, raising a hand as if to reach for the retreating taijiya before clutching at the front of her sweater instead.

Behind her, the crunch of dead grass alerted her to Miroku's approach. Slowly, he drew up beside her, his broken right arm still hanging in its linen sling. She stole a glance at him briefly before lowering her gaze.

“She’s never going to forgive me, is she?”

“Perhaps,” Miroku responded civilly, “in time.”

“And you?” She raised her eyes toward his. “Do you think _you’ll_ ever be able to forgive me, Miroku-san?”

The houshi frowned. “You mistake me, Kagome-sama. I bear no ill will toward you.”

“But things will never be the same,” she said, a bitter smile wringing from her lips. “You don’t trust me anymore. No one does. Not that I blame you, of course.”

“Kagome-sama—”

“I know it doesn’t make any difference now,” she continued hurriedly, “but there was a reason why I left, and it had nothing to do with Inuyasha and Kikyou. I did something stupid, Miroku-san—something reckless. I angered a powerful demon, and I was afraid that if I stayed here, I’d be putting the rest of you in danger, too.”

“Ah,” Miroku replied after a moment, a shrewd glint surfacing in his indigo gaze. “This powerful demon was Sesshoumaru-sama, I take it.”

Kagome’s eyes widened in shock. “You-you knew?”

“Not long after you left, I was confronted by Sesshoumaru-sama.” Miroku grimaced, rubbing a hand across his throat, as if in remembered discomfort. “He was most…displeased…to learn that you had returned through the Bone-Eater’s Well.”

“Oh, Miroku!” Kagome said, tears pricking her eyes as she clasped the monk’s cold fingers. “I’m so sorry…I never thought—”

“No,” Miroku interrupted, and she flinched at the unexpected bite in his tone, “I suppose not.”

Dejected, Kagome hung her head, stifling a sob with the back of her hand.

Miroku sighed wearily. “I do not know what transpired between the two of you, Kagome-sama, but you left the rest of us in a precarious position. By feigning ignorance about the nature of the well, I managed to dissuade Sesshoumaru-sama from further questioning. It was fortunate, indeed, that he chose to take me at my word.”

Some of the tension bled from Kagome’s shoulders. Shakily, she exhaled. “So he...he didn’t hurt you, then? And the others…they still don’t know?”

“I never told them, no,” Miroku replied, his expression dimming. “Now that you have returned, I might have shared my concerns with Sango-san, but it seems you are not the only one in want of her forgiveness.”

Perplexed, Kagome stared at him through the film of her tears. “Miroku-san…?”

“After Kikyou-sama was killed in the fight against Naraku, we had no choice but to retreat. Kohaku-kun had defied Naraku’s control and been gravely wounded in his attempts to protect Sango-san. With one good arm, I knew I could not carry them both, and Kirara-san was struggling to subdue Inuyasha as it was. I made a difficult choice, Kagome-sama: I tore Sango-san from her dying brother’s side. I saved her life." A mirthless half-smile rose at the corner of his mouth. "And now she despises me."

Kagome quailed at the bitterness tainting her friend’s normally serene composure. Guilt flooded her afresh. She would never know how things might have turned out differently if she had fought by their side that day. Perhaps the outcome would have been the same or worse, but if she was certain of one thing, it was that she’d never forgive herself for not being there.

“I’m sure he's still alive,” she whispered tremulously. “When we confront Naraku again, we’ll take Kohaku-kun back with us once and for all. Sango-chan will have to forgive you, then.”

The look the monk directed at her was almost pitying.

“I’m afraid that’s quite impossible, Kagome-sama. Our Jewel shards were seized in the last battle. It is only a matter of time until Naraku completes the Shikon no Tama.” Indigo eyes slid toward Goshinboku, toward the rusty sword standing upright against the ancient trunk. “There never was much hope for our success. But without Inuyasha's strength, we stand no chance against our enemy.”

Kagome couldn’t quite believe what she was hearing.

“Then you’re just going to give up?” Heat and pain crept into her words in equal measure. “You’re really just going to stand by and let Naraku win?”

“Naraku has already won.” His gaze flat and defeated, Miroku turned away from her. “I will do what I can to atone for my mistakes. I will follow Sango-san into battle if that is what she chooses, but I have no further illusions of victory.”

Such dread and terrible sadness gripped Kagome’s heart that she struggled to draw in breath, let alone to call out to him as he began to walk away. She wanted to tell him not to give up hope so easily. She wanted to beg him to have faith in their quest, to convince him that all had not been lost with Inuyasha’s passing. But the words lodged in her throat.

“Miroku-san, please, I…”

He paused, glancing back at her in regret. “I'm sorry you were compelled to return here under such dismal circumstances, Kagome-sama." Tucking his wounded arm closer to his side, the monk resumed his course. "Perhaps it would be best if you returned to your time.”

Speechless, Kagome watched him leave, staggered by his dismissal. She felt crippled, worse than useless, and with helpless tears leaking down her face, she collapsed at the base of Goshinboku, her fingers clawing desperately into the frozen earth.

The coldness was all. It was around her, within her—inescapable.

“Return to my time,” she echoed faintly, a grim shadow of a smile darkening the corners of her mouth.

Her eyes rose from the roots of Goshinboku to the grey leafless branches. Their barrenness struck her suddenly and profoundly. No flowers marked the spot of Inuyasha’s funeral, not even a hint of green peeked through. Of all nature's injustices toward her hanyou friend, this last one seemed particularly cruel.

Planting her hands more firmly against the ground, Kagome willed reiki into her palms, flooding the dead earth below her with the pure warmth of life. Green grass sprouted into a soft carpet beneath her hands, wildflowers twisting up and blooming amidst the gnarled roots of Goshinboku. She poured out her life force as freely as her grief, letting it course outward through the clearing, until the topmost limbs of the God Tree unfurled leaves of vibrant green.

Satisfied with the offering she had made for her departed friend, Kagome stemmed her outpouring of reiki. The now-familiar ease with which she did so did not escape her notice.

Her eyes closed briefly in remembrance.

_“How can I control my power?”_

As she listened to the frigid wind ruffle through the greenery above her, Kikyou’s response came back to her with painful clarity.

_“As I said before, Kagome, you are like me…_

_"You, too, must discover this answer for yourself.”_

Kagome opened her eyes. She glanced toward the trunk of Goshinboku, where the frayed hilt of Tessaiga leaned against the smooth grey bark.

The moment she had decided to accompany Inuyasha back to Sengoku Jidai, she had found the answer. To be a priestess of the Shikon no Tama, to embrace the full power of her own recovered soul and to take up the mantle of her sacred duty, she could no longer afford to be double-minded, torn between the Modern Era and the past.

The moment her feet had touched down on the other side, she’d known exactly where she was supposed to be. And ever so silently, the well had sealed shut behind her.

Beyond her shoulder now, even in the midst of this vibrant spring landscape, her portal to the Modern Era lay dormant still.

To forge the Shikon no Tama, Midoriko had given up her life. To protect it, Kikyou had given up her freedom. To destroy it, Kagome had given up her Future.

Because the answer to her question, the key to wielding such holy power as theirs…

…was _sacrifice._

“Miroku-san,” she whispered, a melancholy smile softening her expression, “this _is_ my time.”

A soft mewl behind her drew Kagome’s attention. Surprised, she turned to find the tiny cat demon sitting at her side, luminous red eyes regarding her with unexpected warmth.

“Kirara-chan,” Kagome said faintly, as the kitten-sized youkai butted her hand with a soothing purr. “You mean…you still _want_ to be around me? You don’t resent me for what I’ve done?”

Kirara looked up at her with patient understanding, with an ancient gaze that seemed to speak to her across centuries of experience. Kagome saw only reassurance in those wise ruby eyes and felt her features crumple in relief as she gathered the tiny demon into her arms.

“Oh, Kirara-chan, what am I supposed to do?” she sobbed into the silky fur of her companion. “How can I possibly make things right when it seems like everything I’ve done since arriving in this era has turned out so completely wrong? How can I get the others to hope again when they won’t trust another word I say? I need a way to reach them. I…”

Peeling her face up from Kirara’s fur, her eyes fell on the form of Tessaiga. As she studied the sword, a sudden burst of inspiration hit her, making the breath freeze in her lungs.

“Kirara-chan,” she said in a hushed voice, causing the cat youkai to tilt her head inquisitively, “I think I’m going to need your help.”

**xXxXxXx**

Of all the crazy stupid ideas she’d ever had, this had to be the craziest. And the _stupidest_.

Kagome hoped she wouldn’t live to regret it—if, in fact, she managed to live at all. This could very well turn out to be a suicide mission.

 _But I have to try_ , she told herself, clenching her jaw in determination as she and Kirara sped through the wintry sky.

They flew low over the western woods, Kagome spreading out her senses as her feline companion searched by scent and instinct. A cat’s nose wasn’t as sharp as a dog’s, but it was a heck of a lot better than a miko’s, and Kagome wouldn’t put it past her demonic quarry to keep his youki under tight wraps—even in his own Western Lands.

“Sesshoumaru,” she said softly, her breath trailing a fine mist behind her, “where are you?”

Briefly, she found herself wishing he still had a remnant of the seal in his arm so that she would be able to sense him. Shivering, she huddled closer to Kirara’s warm back and tried to stop feeling so strangely wistful.

If there were ulterior motives behind her current course of action, she didn’t want to examine them too closely.

The treetops they skimmed were a boring tangle of grey and brown limbs, interspersed with the occasional glare of white. It had been snowing here, in the West. She imagined him blending right in with the cold winter scenery: silver-white hair and fur, pale skin and frosty demeanor.

A smile crept across her face at the thought. It was the first pleasant musing she’d indulged in since that fateful night Inuyasha appeared in the Modern Era. Perhaps that was why she didn’t notice it at first, when Kirara loosed a low growl and began to bristle.

When the cat youkai whirled in midair, Kagome was jolted rather forcefully from her reverie. Her teeth pierced her tongue as she dug her knees into Kirara’s flanks in desperation.

“Kirara-chan, what’s wrong?” she called out desperately, as a blinding thread of pure energy shot up at them from the forest below.

This time, Kirara failed to dodge the attack, and Kagome barely had time to scream as she felt them hurtling toward the trees. As they crashed down through the branches, Kirara bore the brunt of the assault, releasing a roar of agony a moment before they hit the ground.

Gasping in fear, Kagome rolled from Kirara’s back as quickly as she could, numb to the pain of her own minor injuries as she rapidly scanned the unconscious form of her friend. Blood matted the fur around Kirara’s left ear, her thick ivory coat streaked with crimson from the cut of the tree limbs. A nasty burn ringed her hind leg, still smoking faintly from the poisonous youki that had brought them down—the same youki that was now pouring out across the woods toward them in deadly waves.

Unthinking, Kagome spun on her heels in a crouch, retrieving Kikyou’s longbow and nocking an arrow in one fluid movement. Reiki sped through the shaft, arcing out from the tip of the arrow in a half-sphere of brilliant light. Through the pink glow of her impromptu shield, she watched with wary eyes as Sesshoumaru approached them across the patchwork of snow.

He might very well have been carved from ice, if not for the simmering heat of his gaze. It scorched her as he drew to a stop at the edge of the small clearing—a roiling, liquid gold.

Kagome’s heart rose in her throat as her grip on the bow began to tremble. What in Kami’s name had she been thinking, coming here? That over the course of eight months he would have forgotten his anger toward her?—that he would ever consider aiding her toward any goal that did not involve her slow and painful death?

She felt like such a fool. And yet to see him standing there before her, whole and unblemished once again, lightened a bit of the heavy weight that had settled in her chest since Inuyasha’s passing.

“Miko,” he spoke to her quietly, coldly, “if you release that arrow, you had better kill me.”

At the threat in his words, a spark of her old fury rose within her. For half a second, she was sorely tempted to try her aim.

“I’ll drop the bow,” she countered shortly, "if you'll promise not to murder me before at least hearing me out."

Golden eyes flashed dangerously. “Such insolence. You dare to make demands of this Sesshoumaru within his own lands?”

Kagome lowered the bow, though she did not dispel her reiki. Beneath the hard anger in his eyes, she thought she detected a glimmer of interest. Or maybe it was just sheer incredulity. Either way, she seized on it like a beacon in the dark.

“Please, Sesshoumaru, I know you must hate me after all I’ve done, but please—just listen to me for a moment.”

His gaze burned into her like a fiery brand, but when he said nothing after a few seconds of tense silence, she took it as permission to continue.

“Sesshoumaru, Inuyasha was…” she paused, drawing in a bracing breath. “Inuyasha is dead.”

She had expected him to receive this news with his usual indifference, but the daiyoukai’s reaction surprised her. He turned slightly away from her, a trace of a frown pulling at the corners of his mouth as he fixed his eyes on some point in the distance.

“I see,” he said to her after a while. “Is that all you have come here to say?”

“No,” she replied, setting the bow down in the snow as she dismissed her spiritual energy and reached for the sword strapped across her back, hidden beneath her winter coat. “I have a new deal I’d like to make with you, Sesshoumaru: Tessaiga, in exchange for your help defeating Naraku.”

Laying the sword across her lap she looked up to find him staring at her intently, the slightest tension in his jaw betraying the depth of his displeasure.

“Tessaiga,” he said slowly, “is mine by rights.”

The low rumble underscoring his words had the hairs on the back of her neck standing on end. It took every ounce of boldness she possessed to keep her gaze locked with his.

“Not the way I see it,” she returned, her voice sounding remarkably braver than she felt, as she curled her fingers protectively around the battered hilt. “Before he died, Inuyasha entrusted Tessaiga to me. You can try taking it by force, though, if you don’t mind your hand getting fried…well, _again.”_

When he said nothing to that, Kagome rose to her feet with the rusty blade in hand, brushing snow off the damp knees of her jeans. He looked like he wanted to skin her alive, but she couldn’t stop herself now, even if she tried.

“Look, Sesshoumaru-sama,” she blustered on, gesturing with Tessaiga, “don’t you have a bone to pick with Naraku as well? All I’m asking is that you let us team up with you for a little while. Once Naraku is dead and the Shikon no Tama is destroyed, you’ll get Tessaiga like you’ve always wanted, and we can all go our separate ways.” At the sudden darkening of his expression, Kagome paled. “Or, um—if-if you want—you can take up your differences with me then.”

Heart hammering in her chest, Kagome watched as his searing gaze flicked from Tessaiga to her face, as though in consideration. Again, his eyes turned from her, cooling a bit as he regarded his clenched left fist.

“That fang does not interest me as it once did.”

Kagome gaped at him. How many times had he attacked Inuyasha over this stupid sword? He’d lost his own arm in the initial fight to claim it. Did he really hate her so much that even the offer of Tessaiga couldn’t convince him to come over to her side?

 _But if that’s the case, why even bother with refusing?_ she asked herself, her brow knitting in confusion. _Why not just kill me on the spot? Unless…_

Her eyes widened with comprehension, her jaw clicking shut. When her voice left her mouth, it was little more than a whispered breath.

“But there is _something_ you want,” she stated quietly in suspicion. “What is it?”

He glanced at her sharply, and she could see that the ferocity in his gaze had not dulled so much as taken on a different edge. There was resentment in that look, a bitterness that twisted his lips as he closed the distance between them.

But it was _want_ all the same.

“…I think you know.”

 


	9. Chapter Nine

IMPORTANT Author's note: Hello again! :) Where to even begin...first off, a thousand apologies for the ridiculously long delay. Life happens, but suffice it to say that I'm back & barring my sudden and unexpected death, committed to finishing this story! When I went on hiatus back in 2014, I said that I'd only be updating again once the story is completely written - so, in the spirit of full disclosure, _Transgressions_ IS NOT finished yet; however, I decided to go ahead and post this ONE chapter to let you guys know that I'm still alive  & to tell you about a special writing project I'm launching in order to complete the fic in a timely manner: the _Daily Transgressions_  series!

**If you would like to follow along, I will be posting daily updates to _Transgressions_ on my blog (see my profile for the link!). And check out Part 1 of the _Daily Transgressions_ series now! :)**

Once the project is complete, _Transgressions_ will be written in full  & I will resume posting on the various sites. In the meantime, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter! For those of you who have been waiting, thanks so very much for hanging in there with me - and, of course, for all of the support & feedback over the years - hopefully the rest of the story will be worth the wait. ;) 

**Chapter Nine**

_“…I think you know.”_

He had not bothered to mask the loathing in his words. He did not bother to hide it now. Seething, he pinned her doe-like gaze, daring her to feign ignorance of his intentions.

 _Yes, you wretched girl._ Knuckles cracked as he flexed his claws. _You know full well what I want._

Bitterly, he studied her face, still somewhat astonished to find it before him once again. He had not expected her to return. And in such an irksome manner...

A muscle in his jaw tensed slightly. In a perverse way, he supposed her arrival was fitting.

It would not do for her to simply let him be. The gods had singled him out for torment, it seemed, and now here she was again, to punish him in his affliction.

She would never agree to such terms. He had said those words to her out of spite, knowing that she would refuse him. Had she not already? Had she not humiliated him, rejected him—

“All right.”

He looked at her sharply.

The wind stirred her glossy hair, a faint tinge of red dusting her cheeks. Her blue eyes shone as they held his, entrancing in their clarity.

“…If that’s what you want.”

His eyes narrowed. His lips thinned. She did not shrink from his menacing expression, though she stilled, appearing not even to breathe.

“Miko,” he said to her, a low rumble roughening his voice, “do you realize what you are agreeing to?”

Slowly, unfathomably, she nodded. Her flush deepened, although the icy breeze could be yet to blame. He had to know for certain that she had not mistaken him. He had to hear her give answer to his demands, to the dark hunger that stirred within him.

Looming over her, he said, “You would surrender yourself to a demon you have wronged? You would let me take you, ravage you… _defile_ you, if I so choose?”

A shadow passed over her features before they hardened, her eyes flashing with a steely glint, though her voice was soft. “So long as you’ll help us put an end to Naraku and the Shikon no Tama, you can do whatever you want with me.”

He could feel the heat creeping into his gaze, her words stoking the white-hot blaze of his desire. How often he had thought of revenging himself upon her, her reiki snuffed like a candle flame beneath his unfettered youki, her body trapped beneath his own as he swallowed her desperate cries.

It was a scenario he despised as much as he craved. The knowledge that she could—and had—denied him had granted Sesshoumaru a measure of security in the face of his detestable fixation. And so her present acquiescence unsettled him. That she would she would let him have her, that she would allow him to fulfill his wants unchecked forced him once again into a precipitous position.

He resented her for shifting the burden of decision onto him—though there could be no choice but one. His pride would not permit him to back away from his own proposition. All that was left was for him to plunge ahead, down that path where his accursed lust was beckoning, pulling at him with the force of gravity.

“Very well,” he declared, gaze hooded as he regarded her intently. “Then this Sesshoumaru will aid you in your quest.”

She swallowed lightly, her lips parting as she exhaled. His eyes followed the curve of them, traced their supple outline. Full and ripe and red—he wondered how rich they would taste, how they would yield beneath the pressure of his fangs.

 _I will show you_ , he thought as he reached for her, fingers sliding to the back of her neck, claws tangling in her hair as he angled her face toward his. _I will show you how I have suffered because of you._

A mewling in the distance drew him short.

“Kirara-chan!” the miko gasped as she tore from his hold, dark waves of hair rippling softly through his fingers.

She dropped to her knees at the side of the injured neko youkai, the discarded Tessaiga unceremoniously denting the snow. Frowning, Sesshoumaru retrieved it. For the first time, he held his father’s fang with no trace of discomfort. Yet it brought him little satisfaction.

There was a wrongness in this. A sense of anticlimax. To possess the sword without having wrested it from Inuyasha was an attainment without savor.

Nor did Tessaiga relish its change in ownership. He could feel the dim hum of its reluctance. The sword tolerated him because of the girl’s wishes, but it did not accept him. Perhaps it never would. At the moment, however, Sesshoumaru was not much inclined to care.

A few feet away, the miko was fumbling with the fastenings of her curious outer clothing. Into the opening at her breast, she tucked the small feline, cradling her to her chest.

“Don’t worry, Kirara-chan,” she soothed, stroking pale fur with one hand as she supported the bundled youkai with the other. “Everything’s going to be all right.”

“Miko.”

She glanced up at him in faint surprise, as though she had forgotten he was there. It irritated him how easily he could slip from her mind—in no small part because she could not seem to grant him the same reprieve.

“Sesshoumaru,” she addressed him, unabashed, “is there shelter anywhere nearby? Kirara-chan needs to warm up so she can heal more quickly.”

“How quickly she heals is none of my concern.”

The miko glared. “It’s your fault Kirara-chan’s wounded in the first place.”

He returned her glare, her audacity rankling him. “It is well within my rights to strike down trespassing demons.”

“She didn’t mean you any harm,” the miko insisted, setting her jaw. “And, anyway, she only came here because I asked her to. If you’re going to punish anyone, then punish me.”

His eyes were liquid, his pupils mere slivers of black.

 _Miko_ , he thought as he turned from her, his expression darkening, _I intend to._

“This way,” he said.

There was a scrambling behind him as she gathered up her bow and quiver and shouldered her ponderous yellow sack. He led her a few miles through the frozen wilderness, the trees’ bony fingers scratching at his hair and sleeves. The girl kept close to him. Every so often, he glanced back at her, though she did not meet his gaze. Her eyes were downcast, her delicate features etched in concern for the youkai she held in her arms.

When they arrived at the cave, she set to work at once, gathering branches for a fire. As the flames crackled to life near the entrance, she lay the neko close by on her folded outerwear and began rifling through the sack. It intrigued him to watch her from his spot against the wall.

From a white box labeled ‘First Aid Kit’, she extracted a small square pouch, which she tore apart to reveal a cloth smelling strongly of astringent. Tenderly, though needlessly, she dabbed at the neko’s closing wounds, accomplishing little more than blotting out the spots of blood. Did she not understand that youkai did not require the same care as humans?

She next produced a metal bowl in which she melted a small quantity of snow. By now, the neko was rousing and well enough to drink. As the demon lapped at the water, the miko rummaged once again, retrieving a metal container smelling vaguely of fish and a device which she cranked to unseal it. The feline purred as the container was laid beside her, while Sesshoumaru wrinkled his nose at the pungent stink of salted meat.

The girl smiled warmly. “Eat up, Kirara-chan!”

After her meal, the neko began to cleanse her fur, while the miko alternated between relief and anxiety. Each time the demon shook her head and mewled in discontent at the taste of alcohol, the girl mistook the sounds for ones of pain and would offer fretful apologies as she wrung her hands in distress. As daylight waned, her needless worrying began to grate on him, and he cut a sharp look to the recovered feline.

“Leave us,” he ordered coolly.

At once, the nekomata bristled, transforming in a rush of flame. In a low growl she told him that she would not leave without her friend.

Before he could correct her, the miko intervened.

“It’s okay, Kirara-chan,” she said, smiling slightly. “You don’t have to worry about me. You should probably head back to Edo, anyway, now that you’re feeling better. Sango-chan must be wondering where you’ve gone.” She reached forward, ruffling the cat youkai behind the ears. “Thanks for bringing me here. I’ll see you again soon, okay?”

With one last wary look, the nekomata departed, the miko watching after her until her fiery figure vanished into the night sky. The fire had burned quietly to embers, and with the nekomata’s departure, the cave was plunged into darkness.

Though he could still see, of course, he knew that the miko was virtually blind. Apart from his reflective gaze, he was invisible to her, and so from the shadows, he silently observed her.

She stood a short distance away, still staring outward, her arms crossed over her chest. Her posture was tense, expectant. Each shallow breath formed a trembling cloud of mist.

“Take off your clothes,” he commanded.

She turned toward him slowly, arms uncrossing as her eyes locked with his. If his tone left any room for argument, his gaze certainly did not. Bending slightly, she pulled off her boots and socks. After a moment’s hesitation, she tugged her shirt over her head and unfastened her pants, pushing them to the cavern floor.

His eyes widened a fraction at the sight of her, his tongue skimming along the points of his fangs.

"Come here," he heard himself say.

Trembling and mostly bare, she approached him on timid footsteps, arms crossed once more over her chest. When she drew close enough, he pulled her wrists apart, his breath mingling with hers, shimmering in the space between them.

Her breathing quickened. With each rapid intake of air, the swell of her breasts lifted tantalizingly toward him, straining against the mere scraps of cloth that restrained them. He closed his eyes briefly, struggling to retain possession of his senses as he remembered their weight, their texture.

He circled around her, one claw tip slipping beneath the thin black strap on her shoulder. She shivered as he slid it down, her creamy flesh spilling over the side of its restraint.

"What is this contraption?" he asked her lowly, rubbing the sleek, stretchy material between his fingers.

"It's—it's called a bra," she stammered.

His hand trailed down from her shoulder, his fingers hooking into a similar band of fabric at her hip. As they glided along it, his knuckles grazed her naked backside, and she started, gasping, at the sensation.

His voice pitched lower still. “And this?”

“A...a thong,” she whispered, her answer so faint even he could scarcely hear it.

He could feel the heat of her body despite the cold. He basked in its heady warmth, savoring the scent of her hair and her skin, the taste of her apprehension.

Brushing back her hair, he lowered his lips to her ear and said, “Remove them.”

Her fingers rose haltingly to the back of the bra. He watched her fumble at a set of tiny metal hooks until they at last popped free, the whole contraption now dangling loosely from her shoulders. As she slowly peeled the fabric away, he glimpsed the smooth pale curve of a breast through the gap between her arm and her chest.

He clenched his fist against the urge to seize it.

When she bent over slightly to step out of the thong, he forced himself to steady his breathing, willing himself to remain in control. Approaching her again, he ran a claw from the outside of her thigh to the underside of her breast, applying just enough pressure so as not to break the skin.

“Do you know what it means, for a daiyoukai to lust after a human?”

Hesitantly, she shook her head.

He smoothed his palm along the column of her throat, gripping the bottom of her jaw between his claws as he tilted her face back toward his own. He studied her features—her fair brow, partially obscured by the dark silky fringe of her bangs, her long sooty lashes and the brilliant, piercing blue eyes they fluttered over, her rose-dusted cheeks, and the delicate, damnable pout of her lips—the image of which had undone him months ago, and was fast undoing him again. Even now, he ached at her hateful beauty.

“It means that he is weak,” he continued, his free hand easing down the flat plane of her stomach, gooseflesh peppering her satiny skin in the wake of its descent. “Unworthy.”

She squirmed, her muscles flinching, feather-light, beneath his touch. “Sesshoumaru...”

“ _Do not_ ,” he growled, tightening his hold on her jaw, “interrupt me.”

Her eyes widened, glittering, as his fingertips brushed the downy curls at the base of her torso. A whimper escaped her, and he relished the sound, even as he felt his composure crumbling.

“How low you have brought me,” he said, bringing her flush against him, the spikes of his armor digging into her tender flesh, making her wince. “ _Kagome_.”

A shiver ran through her, but before he could take any satisfaction from it, her fingers were threading through his own, guiding him between her thighs. One claw split her cheek as she leaned her hips into the cradle of his hand, his name leaving her lips on a breathy sigh.

Frozen in disbelief, he watched a bead of her blood trail glistening down her face, her eyes half-lidded and fixed upon him. She wanted this. She wanted _him_. Through the red haze of his lust, he breathed in the tang of her arousal, felt the wet hot glaze of it against his skin. In that moment he would have severed his left arm anew, he would have razed his own kingdom to the ground and laid the ashes at her feet, just to have her say his name like that again.

He had not been prepared for this. He was hard and hungry and half-crazed, far more exposed and ashamed than she, despite her nakedness. She had bested him once again, and he grit his fangs bitterly in concession. He released her jaw, his fist striking out against the wall of the cave, blasting a hole in the solid rock. He breathed heavily, his other hand shaking as he removed it from between her legs, slick fingers gliding over the skin of her thigh.

“Get dressed,” he said, wrenching himself away from her. “We are leaving.”

**xXxXxXx**

She braced a hand against the wall of the cave as she watched him leave, still somewhat in a daze. A tremor wracked her frame, and it had nothing to do with the wintry weather.

_What...what in Kami's name just happened here?_

She couldn't explain what had come over him any more than she could explain what had come over _her_. One minute she was bare-naked and vaguely terrified, the next minute she was grinding against his hand like a cat in heat. She groaned, shaking her head in mortified disbelief.

An icy breeze rolled in from the cavern entrance. It licked up her legs, chilling the dampness lingering between her thighs, teasing against her tightened nipples and bathing her flushed face in a wash of crisp, cool air.

She'd thought this was what he wanted. She'd been prepared to be used by him—as prepared as she could be with her lack of experience, anyway. But when he'd started touching her...when finally she'd felt the bite of his claws amid that purposeful, downward course of his hand, something had taken hold of her. It was a rush of exhilaration unlike anything she'd ever felt before.

The world could have fallen away around her, and she wouldn't have even noticed. Or cared. All she had wanted—all she had needed in that moment—was for him to keep touching her still.

Why he had stopped was beyond her. Yet even now she craved him, her nerves as taut as a bow string fit to snap. She leaned back against the frigid wall behind her for support, hoping the shock of cold would steady her out. Her reaction scared her. She didn't understand it, was afraid of what it might mean.

 _Face it, Kagome_ , she told herself ruefully, _you're a pervert._

Laughing a bit hysterically, she set about collecting her scattered articles of clothing in the almost total darkness. Finding her underwear with a toe, she shimmied it over her hips and around her breasts against another furious wave of arousal. Kami knows she'd never be able to look at _this_ particular bra-and-panty set the same way ever again.

When at last she'd buttoned her coat and hefted her heavy backpack over her shoulders, she exited the cave to find him standing in the middle of a small clearing, the moonlight playing brilliantly over the long silvery fall of his hair. He looked so elegant, so perfectly composed. It was hard to imagine that only a short while ago he'd been manhandling her in some random cave.

Her stomach clenched traitorously as she approached him. A few steps away from him, he turned toward her, and suddenly, frighteningly, it dawned on her that she would actually have to _face_ him.

Her heart leapt into her throat as he leveled the full force of his gaze upon her. During all the time they'd spent together, she had gotten pretty good at reading his near-inscrutable expressions. But now she found herself at an utter loss, his stony features betraying absolutely nothing.

At last his eyes cut to her right cheek, remaining there. When she raised her fingers to it, they came away sticky with blood.

“Clean yourself off,” he ordered briskly, turning on his heel again, “and follow me.”

Hurriedly, she scooped up a handful of snow and trotted after him, pressing the mound of soft ice crystals to her cheek. Her skin was soon numb from the cold, a trickle of pink snowmelt running between her fingers.

As the first rays of dawn crept over the horizon, she took the opportunity to study the silent daiyoukai striding ahead of her. He struck an imposing figure against the serene beauty of the surrounding wilderness. Three swords jutted from the crimson obi at his waist, the wicked points of his shoulder guards catching the red light of the rising sun. Belatedly she realized he must have had Toutousai forge him a new set of armor. The metal plating was of a lighter shade than she remembered, and more tapered to accentuate his powerful build.

“Your new armor looks nice,” she ventured.

He glanced back at her briefly before returning his attention to the snowy landscape ahead.

“It was forged from the scales of the scorpion daiyoukai Sutinguu.”

“Oh, yeah!” she said, perking up. “That was the demon you killed because his grandkids were nesting in your lands, right?”

“Yes,” he answered tersely, “but that isn’t why I slew him.”

She opened her mouth to ask him why when his tone and the timeline of past events suddenly hit her. That had been the night she’d lifted the seal from his arm…

Her jaw clicked shut. _Nice going, Kagome,_ she berated herself inwardly.

Still, it made her heartbeat speed up to think that she could have such a profound effect on him, even if it had, unfortunately, resulted in a killing spree. She hoped that Sutinguu had at least deserved what was coming to him.

“Um, where are we going?” she tried again after a while.

“To collect my followers.”

 _Followers?_ Kagome blinked. Since when did Sesshoumaru have a posse, apart from that annoying little toad?

It was precisely at that moment that said toad came bounding into view, staff waving as he wailed, “Sesshoumaru-sama! Sesshoumaru-sama!”

“Jakken,” Sesshoumaru intoned, as the imp fell groveling at the daiyoukai’s booted feet. “What is it?”

“It-it’s Rin!” Jakken sobbed, fat yellowish tears oozing down his ugly green face. “She’s been taken!”

Sesshoumaru tensed, his hand going at once to Tokijin’s hilt.

“Wait, who’s Rin?” Kagome asked, stepping out from behind him.

Jakken sprang to his feet, pointing.

“Inuyasha’s miko!” he exclaimed. “What are you doing here, ningen?”

“The name’s Kagome,” she snapped, “and I asked you first!”

“Rin is my ward,” Sesshoumaru answered her instead, leveling the point of his demonic sword at the prostrate imp. “Now _explain_.”

Kagome rolled her eyes as the sniveling resumed full-force.

“P-please, milord, have mercy! Naraku’s minions came upon us suddenly and t-took the girl. They headed north with her about an h-hour ago.”

“And you’ve just been sitting around this whole time?” Kagome bit out.

“Impertinent wench!” Jakken said, jumping up angrily. “I have been searching for milord!”

“You were too scared to go after them, weren’t you?”

Jakken turned an even uglier shade of chartreuse. “Why you filthy ningen—“

“Enough,” Sesshoumaru said, glaring at them both.

Jakken quailed while Kagome huffed, putting her hands on her hips. With one last frosty glance he turned from her, a cloud of youki gathering beneath his feet.

“Wait here,” he said as he began to rise.

“No way!” Kagome reached out, grabbing him by the sleeve. “I’m coming with you.”

“How dare you take hold of milord!” Jakken raged, lunging toward her with his staff upraised.

She sidestepped him easily, and he crashed into the snowbank behind her, spluttering and flailing—her eyes never leaving Sesshoumaru’s. He looked down at her a moment more in stern reproach before grasping her under the arm.

“Here—watch this!” she called out behind her as Sesshoumaru hoisted her up beside him, her yellow backpack slipping from her shoulders and sending Jakken face first into the snow again.

“...ilthy..uman!” he shouted after them around a mouthful of white powder, his lower half pinned beneath her backpack still.

She grinned back at him with a cheeky wave, her free arm looped around Sesshoumaru’s. As they sped forward through the icy air, she clung to him tighter, her entire front pressed firmly against him.

A blush spread across her cheeks as she registered their closeness. She could smell the earthy masculine scent of him, the soft fur of his pelt tickling lightly at her nose. Beneath the dense silk of his sleeve, she could feel the hard sculpted muscle of his upper arm—the fingers of which had, only a few hours ago, been nearly inside her.

She shifted at the thought, hyper aware of his hand’s proximity to her even now.

“Stop fidgeting,” Sesshoumaru said, peering down at her in keen disapproval.

“S-sorry!”

Relaxing her clutch on his arm, she forced herself to focus on the path ahead. They flew low over great forests of spindly, sharp-needled trees, skirted just above the jagged peaks of snow-capped mountain ranges. She strained her eyes and her miko senses, searching for any traces of Naraku’s distinctive youki.

“It’s no good,” she spoke after a while, frowning up at Sesshoumaru. “I can’t sense anything.”

“Nor can I,” he admitted, his face a similar mask of concentration—and disappointment. “The direction of the wind has changed.”

As they prepared to circle back, a faint distant glimmer caught Kagome’s attention. Her breath lodged in her throat.

_Could it be…?_

“Wait!” she said, tugging on the demon lord’s sleeve as she gestured ahead. “I see something over there, at the edge of that mountain.”

Sesshoumaru’s eyes narrowed. “What is it that you see?”

“...I’m not sure,” she answered lamely, “but I think it might be a Jewel shard.”

“It will have to wait for another time.”

“But, Sesshoumaru—”

A sudden blast of air cut her off, Sesshoumaru seizing her by the waist as the force of the attack threw her almost off edge of the youki cloud. She held the spiked ring of his pauldron in a death grip, the wind sorceress Kagura hovering before them in the aftermath.

“Well, well, Sesshoumaru-sama,” she said, her fan collapsing with a flick of the wrist. “I was starting to think you wouldn’t show.” Her crimson eyes flicked from Tessaiga to Kagome. “Looks like you’ve been busy picking up Inuyasha’s scraps.”

“Watch it, Kagura!” Kagome yelled, lifting her longbow and taking aim. “Say one more thing about Inuyasha, and you’ll be lucky if there’s a scrap left of _you_.”

“My, that’s quite the weapon you’ve found,” Kagura said derisively. “I wonder if you know how to use it.”

Kagome grit her teeth. “Want to find out?”

“Where is Rin?” Sesshoumaru interrupted coldly.

Kagura’s gaze slid to the daiyoukai, resting upon him in a way that made Kagome’s blood boil anew.

“Why don’t you follow me and see?” the wind witch answered, turning about in midair and speeding toward the mountainside that had drawn Kagome’s attention before.

Taking hold of her again, Sesshoumaru hurtled after Kagura, his fangs bared, the crescent mark on his forehead perfectly visible beneath his upswept bangs. Bow in hand, Kagome mirrored his urgency, her heart pounding and muscles tensing in anticipation of the fight ahead.

 _There’s no doubt about it,_ she thought with increasing dread. _We’re definitely headed straight into an ambush._

They touched down a few yards from Kagura, on the rocky expanse of a cliff. As Sesshoumaru released her, Kagome’s eyes widened, alighting at last on the source of that peculiar gleam.

“Kohaku-kun!” she gasped in relief as the taijiya boy emerged from behind a wall of rock.

At his side, a little girl clothed in orange and white appeared as well. Her wide brown eyes brightened joyfully at the sight of them, Kohaku grasping her by the wrist as she attempted to break and run.

“Sesshoumaru-sama!” the little girl cried out, struggling against Kohaku’s hold.

Unsheathing Tokijin, Sesshoumaru stepped forward, growling low in his throat.

 _That must be Rin!_ Kagome realized with surprise. She never would have imagined Sesshoumaru’s ward would be a human child. The mysteries just didn’t cease with this guy.

“Well done, Kagura,” an unfamiliar voice called out.

They turned toward the sound. From a dark tear in the mountainside, a small pale figure came slowly into view. Silver-white hair framed his childlike face, though there was nothing remotely innocent in his expression. Poised in his hand, a long wicked naginata gleamed, a bloodthirsty aura radiating from weapon and wielder both.

“I’ll admit I was skeptical about this plan of yours,” the newcomer continued, still addressing the wind witch. “But the child was the perfect bait after all.” A slow smile crept across his face as he looked toward Kagome and Sesshoumaru. “It seems the great daiyoukai of the West _does_ have a soft spot for humans.”

Somehow, Sesshoumaru’s lethal expression grew more deadly still, the air seeming to darken around him. If looks could kill, Naraku’s latest incarnation would be dead a hundred times over.

“Who are you?” he demanded.

“My name is Hakudoushi,” the scion replied. “And this,” he said, his smile widening as another ghostly face broke through the darkness above his shoulder, “is Mouryoumaru.”

Kagome blanched, unconsciously retreating a step as the rest of Mouryoumaru’s hulking body materialized from the shadows. He was the most horrific thing she had ever seen—an armored mass of youkai remains, cobbled together with Naraku’s blood and miasma. A creature of immense power and unadulterated malice—an utter abomination.

And at the heart of it was something else—something more terrible still…

“He is the one,” Hakudoushi continued, indigo eyes glittering darkly at Sesshoumaru, “who killed your half-breed brother.”


	10. Chapter Ten

Author's note:The story is completely written! Will be posting the remaining chapters as I have the time to edit them. :) Thanks for all the feedback/encouragement along the way - y'all's comments mean more than I can say. Hope you enjoy!

**Chapter Ten**

Kagome pressed a trembling hand to her lips, the corners of her eyes stinging even as her chest burned with righteous fury. Next to her Sesshoumaru stood, seemingly unfazed, as he continued to stare down Hakudoushi.

“You are sorely mistaken,” the daiyoukai said, “if you think Inuyasha and I to be alike in strength.”

“Oh, I don’t doubt that you’re stronger than your brother.” Hakudoushi smirked. “In fact, that’s  _exactly_ what we’re counting on.”

At his fellow incarnation’s words, Mouryoumaru advanced, the tentacles of his right arm rising as his shoulder split open in a burst of noxious green youki.

“Once Mouryoumaru has absorbed your power, we’ll be one step closer to overthrowing Naraku and claiming the Shikon no Tama for ourselves.”

_Overthrow Naraku?_  Kagome‘s hand tensed around her bow. This was bad.  _Really_  bad.

“Sorry, Sesshoumaru. It’s nothing personal,” Kagura said with a frown, pulling a feather from her hair. “...Let’s get going, Kohaku.”

Releasing Rin, the young taijiya began to approach her.

“Not so fast.”

A stream of tentacles shot out, wrapping around Kohaku and cutting Rin off mid-sprint.

“No sense in letting one of the few remaining Jewel shards just walk away,” Hakudoushi jeered, Mouryoumaru’s tentacles constricting tighter around Kohaku’s chest.

“Kohaku-kun!” Rin screamed.

Kagura paled, grimacing. As Mouryoumaru drew the struggling taijiya back, Kagome ran forward, reaching into her quiver.

“ _Oh yeah_?” she growled under her breath as she nocked and charged an arrow. “Think again, you freak!”

The arrow shot out from her fingers like a lightning bolt, obliterating the lower half of Mouryoumaru’s right arm in an explosion of pale pink luminescence. Kohaku fell to the ground as Mouryoumaru reeled back, his agonized roar rattling the earth beneath them.

“Another miko,” Hakudoushi remarked with a small smile, lowering his naginata. “Interesting.”

Kohaku scrambled to his feet, lunging for Kagura’s feather aircraft. Kagome watched with bated breath as they took flight—noticing a moment too late the mass of writhing flesh sweeping toward her.

She crashed to the rock below as her legs went out from underneath her, the air leaving her lungs in a painful rush. Her vision blurred as she struggled to regain her breath, a long shadow falling over the sprawl of her form. Clutching reflexively at her bow, she stared up at the tentacled limb looming above her, thinking she’d had a pretty good run, when a flash of white suddenly eclipsed her view.

“Sesshoumaru!” she panted, propping herself up on her elbows as Mouryoumaru’s tree trunk of an arm descended, meeting the flat of Tokijin’s virulent blue blade.

Bending slightly beneath the force of his enemy’s attack, the demon lord cast her a withering glance over his shoulder. “ _Go._ ”

Kagome didn’t need to be told twice. She picked herself up at once, swinging her bow around before her as she crouched off to the side and took aim at Mouryoumaru’s ugly, teal-striped face.

“ _Oi_ , miko.”

Lowering her weapon a fraction, Kagome turned, just in time to see Hakudoushi dash past her on what appeared to be a horse made out of orange and white flame. As he wheeled in midair, her grip fell slack, her reiki fizzling to a spark.

“Forgetting something?” he said with a wicked grin, Kagome looking on in horror as Rin dangled high above, held aloft only by the collar of her yukata.

“ _Let her go!_ ” Kagome demanded fiercely. “She’s just a little girl—she has nothing to do with any of this!”

“Oh, but where’s the fun in that?” Naraku’s incarnation laughed, digging his heels into the flanks of his fiery steed. “If you want her, miko, why don’t you  _come and get her!_ ”

With that, he sped off, Kagome chasing after him as he galloped up the mountainside. Throwing her longbow over her shoulder, the miko half-ran, half-climbed up the steepening slope. Chips of slate rained down from the paths of her boots and fingers as she fought increasingly for purchase, her breath trailing after her in the thin air like a wisp of chimney smoke.

When she stumbled at last onto the summit of another plateau, Hakudoushi sat waiting for her as if bored, Rin now thrashing from the crook of his arm. Beneath him, his youkai mount pawed restlessly at the flinty earth, steam fuming from its flared nostrils as its blazing hooves gouged the solid stone.

“It’s about time,” Naraku’s incarnation said, spinning his naginata above his head like a windmill blade. “I’d forgotten how slow you humans can be.”

The fire horse reared as Hakudoushi charged toward her, Kagome fumbling for her bow. At the last moment, she slammed the lower limb into the ground, her reiki channeling outward in a dome and deflecting the blazing edge of his demon spear.

“Not bad,” her enemy chuckled as he wheeled around to face her. “That bow you’re using…could it be Kikyou’s?”

Kagome’s jaw clenched. Holding her shield intact, she readied her weapon.

“Not anymore,” she answered, releasing the bowstring with an electric snap.

Her arrow streaked outward, shattering against a barrier that rose up around Hakudoushi and his steed. The crimson bubble warped, shimmering, as it absorbed her attack.

“Fair enough,” Hakudoushi said, adjusting his grip on his naginata as the horse youkai lowered its fiery-maned head in challenge. “Let’s see if it serves you better than she.”

Stringing another arrow, Kagome braced herself as he raced toward her with weapon outstretched.

_Focus_ , she told herself over the mad pounding of her heart.  _It’s do or die!_

At the last second, she dropped her barrier and channeled her undivided power into her fingertips. The arrow shot from her hand like a solar flare, smashing into Hakoudoushi’s youki shield. The sphere around him burst in a shimmer of reddish-white light, and he veered to the side as Kagome followed through with a second arrow blast—almost quite literally wiping the smirk off his arrogant little face.

“Hm,” he said from the air high above her, his purple eyes no longer glimmering with amusement.

As he raised his hand to his singed jawline, Rin turned abruptly in his grasp, sinking her tiny white teeth hard into his wrist. With a hiss of pain he cast her from him, Kagome watching in slow motion as the little girl plummeted toward the earth below.

“ _Rin-chan!_ ” the miko cried, throwing aside her bow as she sprinted toward the falling child with a speed that no one—least of all her jaded gym teacher—would have ever believed her capable of.

She hit the ground as Rin landed in her outstretched arms, her ungodly momentum sending them both sliding across the stony plateau. As they careened over the edge, her hand struck out, seizing the brittle roots of a half-dead tree. Her boots scrabbled for a foothold against the sheer wall of rock before her. Far below, she could just make out the snow-dusted treetops skirting the mountain’s base. Swallowing thickly, she tore her eyes away from the sight, Rin whimpering as she clung to the front of her coat.

“It’s okay, Rin-chan,” the miko managed with a smile, her toes at last finding the slimmest ledge to rest upon. “Here, see if you can grab onto one of these roots.”

Timidly, the little girl reached out, her fingers curling around one dusty tendril.

“That’s it!” Kagome cheered. “Keep going!”

Emboldened by this, Rin took hold of another root and began to climb, Kagome supporting her from below. Rin gasped when one of the thinner roots snapped in her hand, dark eyes looking down in terror.

“Don’t worry,” Kagome said with all the cheery optimism she could muster. “I’ve got you, okay?”

Rin nodded, resuming her ascent. As she pulled herself at last over the edge of the plateau, Kagome released a breath she hadn’t even realized she’d been holding. A jaunty side ponytail jutted out over the cliff above her. Wide brown eyes peered down at her in concern as Kagome now began the treacherous task of hauling her own self up the mountainside.

Testing the weight of the root she’d been clinging to, she stepped carefully off the ledge and hoisted herself toward the withered trunk of the tree. The hollow wood groaned ominously as she climbed, her grip slipping occasionally from the sweat filming her palms. Her heart leapt as the top of the plateau finally came within reach, the fingers of her left hand hooking just over the rim of it when she felt a dark presence hurtling toward her through the air.

She swung out to the side as the scimitar blade of Hakudoushi’s naginata crashed into the rock beside her. Rin scrambled back with a short cry, the last inch or so of her ponytail sheared off by his strike. Kagome grit her teeth as she swayed precariously in midair, the aged roots snapping and fraying beneath her hands from the strain. Strengthening the wooden tendrils with a desperate surge of reiki, she climbed frantically for the top.

“I was getting lonely up there, waiting for you,” Hakudoushi said dryly, wrenching his weapon from the cliff side.

Kagome launched herself over the edge as he struck out again, the point of his naginata slicing through the meat of her left arm. She screamed out in pain, knees buckling and vision blurring as shouki seared through her flesh like an acid burn.

Through the haze, she could see Rin running toward her with something in her arms. Dimly, she recognized the shape of her bow.

“Here, Miko-sama!” Rin called out as she skidded to a halt before her.

“Thanks, Rin-chan,” Kagome said weakly, blinking to clear her eyes as her reiki finally extinguished the demonic poison that had been setting her nerves aflame. “Now, go and hide—and don’t come out until I say it’s safe.”

As Rin scampered away, Kagome took up her bow and turned toward Hakudoushi.

“Bold words,” he said as he approached her at a canter, “for someone who is about to die.”

Glaring, she attempted to raise and arm her bow, but her wounded left arm just couldn’t sustain the effort.  The weapon fell next to her with a clatter, and she clapped a hand over her torn and bleeding flesh, breathing hard through the throbs of pain.

Drawing up beside her, Hakudoushi leveled the point of his naginata at her with a self-satisfied smile. “It’s been fun, miko, but I think it’s about time to put you down. Guess you’re no different from Kikyou, in the end.”

“Well, you’re right about one thing,” Kagome ground out, feeling a bit unhinged.

Impending death could have that effect on a girl, she supposed.

“Oh?” A silver brow arched. “What’s that?”

Later on she would wonder how she had ever summoned the courage—or the _insanity_ —to do what she did, as she reached out with her blood-slicked right hand and seized hold of Hakudoushi’s vile spear.

“It’s  _over_ ,” she declared, reiki coursing down her arm and up through the weapon that connected them.

Indigo eyes widened in almost childlike surprise as her power flooded him, his right arm and part of his chest dissolving in a torrent of blinding pink light.  He reeled away from her, black blood spilling from his mutilated side. With a whinnying scream, his demon horse threw him from its back and bolted into the air.

“Entei!” Hakudoushi called helplessly after it as he smacked the ground, his features crumpling in pain.

Dropping the cursed naginata, Kagome crawled over to him with arrow in hand. He stared at her as she hovered above him, a bloody smile curving his lips.

“No, miko,” he rasped, the discarded naginata flying into his open palm, “ _now_  it’s over.”

Kagome pitched back as Hakudoushi slammed his weapon down into the earth between them, the cliffside splitting and crumbling under the force of his final blow. As the ground beneath her gave way, she lunged for the embedded naginata, her right elbow hooking around the shaft.

Her legs dangled in the frigid air, her breath coming out in desperate gusts as she struggled to maintain her grip on the spear. Shakily, she clasped her right hand with her left, blood still weeping from the gash below her shoulder. Her feet kicked out behind her, searching for any sort of leverage in the wall of rock at her back.

As the naginata began to slant beneath her weight, she gazed down to the distant plateau where Sesshoumaru was transformed and fighting still. Judging by the patches of red splotching his white fur, things didn’t seem to be going particularly well.

With renewed determination, Kagome dug her heels into a rough patch of earth and pushed against it with all her strength. As her shoulder blades slid up over the edge of the cliff, a sudden wave of dark heat drew her attention.

Slowly, she turned her head to the side, meeting the simmering crimson gaze of Hakudoushi’s equine ex-companion.

_Oh boy,_  she thought in dread.

  **xXxXxXx**

_Meanwhile…_

“If you want her, miko, why don’t you  _come and get her!_ ”

Sesshoumaru watched as the girl took off after Naraku’s brat of an incarnation, heedless of the danger. Anger coursed through him at the sight. With a growl, he threw off Mouryoumaru’s tentacled arm and raced to intercept her.

“Retreating so soon, Sesshoumaru-sama?” a gravelly voice called after him.

Sesshoumaru fell back as a barrage of crystal shards shot toward him, cutting him off from the girl. Shouki sizzled from a nick in his cheek.

“Or can you not help but chase after any slip of mortal flesh that crosses your view?”

Fangs bared, Sesshoumaru turned to face Mouryoumaru, Tokijin crackling with youki. “You will regret that remark.”

The daiyoukai sprang forward. He would end this quickly, and then see to the miko and his ward. With a vicious slash, he released a potent kenatsu wave from Tokijin’s blade, aiming precisely for the head of his foe.

As the blue sickle beam streaked toward Mouryoumaru, a set of spikes curved upward from his mottled gray armor, shielding his face and neck. Sesshoumaru’s kenatsu crashed harmlessly against the spikes and dissipated in a mist of youki.

The daiyoukai frowned as his feet touched back to the ground. Mouryoumaru’s spikes receded, revealing his pale, unscathed face.

“Is that the best you can do?” the creature taunted, smirking.

Taking to the air again, Sesshoumaru unleashed wave after wave of blazing youki, targeting Mouryoumaru’s arms, legs, torso, and head once more in turn—to no avail. Each time he attacked, Naraku’s incarnation blocked with his regenerative armor or parried with his shouki-laced appendages.

Gritting his teeth in frustration, Sesshoumaru landed. This was taking far longer than he had anticipated. He looked past Mouryoumaru, toward the ridge where the miko had ascended in pursuit of Hakudoushi. Though he could see nothing of her from his current position, he could still feel her presence, small reassurance though it was. Powerful as she appeared to be, the girl was unaccustomed to battle—and human, besides.

His grip tightened around Tokijin’s hilt. He had to get to her. He had to— 

“Concerned for your little pets, Sesshoumaru-sama?”

He leapt to the side as Mouryoumaru’s crystallized limb barreled toward him, smashing through the rock where he had once stood. Low guttural laughter filled the air.

“Don’t worry. I’m sure Hakudoushi is taking  _excellent_  care of them.”

Golden eyes narrowed at Mouryoumaru. “This Sesshoumaru has grown weary of your pathetic japes.”

Held level before him, Tokijin seared and rippled with azure flames of youki. As Sesshoumaru stoked it further, the flames unfurled and spread, roiling and twisting about him, his sleeves and hair billowing as his power rose to tower above them both in the form of a gigantic, blue-and-white dragon.

“ _Souryuuha!_ ” he yelled, unleashing Tokijin’s ultimate attack upon Mouryoumaru.

The dragon lunged, slamming his adversary back into the mountainside in a maelstrom of white-hot youki. Boulders crashed down from the summit above, dust rising in a massive cloud under the force of his assault.

As the dust settled, Sesshoumaru turned from the carnage and prepared to take flight. A cloud of youki materialized beneath his boots, propelling him into the air. He had nearly reached the top of the ridge when something foul wrapped around his ankle from below and ripped him from the sky.

He slammed hard against the wall of a neighboring cliff, his back sliding down the fractured rock as Mouryoumaru emerged from the rubble, chuckling and unharmed.

“The tales of your greatness have been exaggerated, it seems.”

Sesshoumaru staggered to his feet, tearing his loosened right pauldron free. He tossed it into the dirt as Tokijin flared once more in his hand.

“So there’s still some fight left in you,” Mouryoumaru observed, smiling darkly. “ _Good_.”

As a jet of tentacled crystal lanced toward him, Sesshoumaru jumped up and back, pushing off from the cliff behind him. He hurtled toward Mouryoumaru at blinding speed, Tokijin bending and blazing as he forced his full power into the spent blade.

A look of shock flitted across Mouryoumaru’s patchwork face. Sesshoumaru’s sword hit its mark, driving him to the earth and cleaving through his armored chest. Pinning him down, Sesshoumaru wedged Tokijin further into the crack.

Then, he heard the miko scream.

His head jerked up at the sound—a cry of unmistakable pain. In his moment of distraction, his power cooled, and Tokijin splintered, snapping in two.

Cursing, Sesshoumaru dropped the hilt of his broken sword, springing back as Mouryoumaru reared. An armored claw swept out at him, and he dodged it narrowly, his furious thoughts still trained toward the plateau above.

He had been a fool to bring her here. His inane desire to keep her near him had imperiled them all. He had to put her from his mind, to focus his attention on the formidable enemy before him, and  _finish this_.

Drawing Tessaiga from its sheath, he strode forward.

Mouryoumaru sneered at the rusty, battered blade. “You think to challenge me with  _that_?”

Gripping the frayed hilt, Sesshoumaru willed the sword to transform in his hand. Tessaiga pulsed in recognition—yet remained the same.

Sesshoumaru glared down at the blade in irritation, imposing his will upon it once again. As Mouryoumaru launched his attack, the daiyoukai rose to counter, trusting that his father’s fang would not betray him in his moment of need.

Yet even as he slashed out to deflect Mouryoumaru’s barrage, Tessaiga remained dormant still. A shower of crystal rained down upon him. As the shards pierced his skin, Tenseiga thrummed at his side, shielding him from the brunt of the assault. With a clenched jaw, he returned Tessaiga to its scabbard in resignation, transforming himself in a whirlwind of pearlescent youki.

In his beast form, he loomed over his enemy, jaws gnashing as he shook his fur to dislodge the venomous splinters embedded in his flesh. His caustic blood burned as it fought to neutralize Mouryoumaru’s miasma. Ears back and head lowered, Sesshoumaru stalked toward his prey, claws scoring the solid stone.

Mouryoumaru gazed up at him in lustful awe, even as he backed away. “So,  _this_  is the true power of a daiyoukai…”

With a snarl that echoed along the cliffside, Sesshoumaru pounced, his massive fangs bearing down upon the crack in Mouryoumaru’s armor. To his surprise, his enemy did not even attempt to evade his attack, but remained still as his thick carapace crunched beneath the pressure of Sesshoumaru’s bite.

“Such raw power,” Mouryoumaru murmured silkily, Sesshoumaru growling in repulsion at his tone. “ _I must have it_.”

Mouryoumaru’s shoulder plate opened in a blaze of emerald youki. Sesshoumaru paid it no heed, consumed now by his mindless need to crush, to  _kill_. And he could feel the armor on the verge of giving way beneath his powerful jaws, the rend he had made spider-webbing through the adamant scale.

He dug his claws into the brittle earth as a force began to pull upon him, tentacles wrapping around his forelegs and neck, inundating him with poison. He started to lose traction, his youkai defenses overwhelmed at last by the virulence of Naraku’s shouki. His mind clouded, his power dimmed, as he found himself being dragged ever closer to that yawning chasm of green.

As his senses began to fade, a speck of orange flecked his vision. He watched in dull fascination as it grew larger—and larger still—taking on the shape of a horse. His glazed eyes widened further when he beheld the horse’s rider to be none other than that damnable miko. Even for a hallucination, this seemed absurd.

“ _Hey!_ ” he heard her shout, the sound of her voice shocking him into sudden lucidity. “Get off of him, you disgusting creep!”

Mouryoumaru froze in his efforts, as transfixed upon the ludicrous sight of her as Sesshoumaru himself. She sped toward them on what could only have been Hakudoushi’s youkai steed—holding aloft in her right hand what could only have been Hakudoushi’s youkai weapon. Her raven hair flew wildly about her dirt-streaked face, her left arm bare and streaked with blood from a wound bound messily below her shoulder. Azure eyes narrowed, flashing fiercely as the naginata in her hand seared and split beneath the onslaught of her reiki.

His breath stilled in captivation, eyes following her until the fog of Mouryoumaru’s poison eclipsed his mind at last.

  **xXxXxXx**

Burning with panic and fury, Kagome plunged down at Mouryoumaru, driving her blazing, disintegrating spear into the crack in his chestplate. The naginata splintered, bursting in a shower of light. Mouryoumaru’s armor shattered as well, falling from his body like broken chunks of clay.

He reeled back, releasing Sesshoumaru as his tentacles retreated defensively. His features twisted in a nasty snarl, the gruesome hole in his shoulder sealing shut.

“Damn you, miko,” he seethed.

Kagome landed between him and Sesshoumaru, retrieving the bow slung across her back. Fighting back a wince of pain, she held the weapon before her as levelly as she could, making a show of slowly fitting the string with an arrow.

After a stare-down that lasted a small eternity, Mouryoumaru finally seemed to buy her intimidation act. Leathery wings spread out from his back as he took to the sky.

“We will meet again,” he declared, dark eyes narrowing ominously as he disappeared around the mountainside.

Air whooshed from Kagome’s lungs. The bow dangled loosely in her hand as she slumped forward in exhausted relief. A white muzzle turned toward her, the crimson eyes above it regarding her steadily.

“Thanks for your help, Entei-san,” she said, giving the fire horse a pat as she slid down from his back like a sack of potatoes.

As her feet hit the ground, she turned toward Sesshoumaru, her brows knitting in concern. Still in dog form, he lay to one side, eyes nearly closed, tongue lolling out as he panted rapidly.

Cautiously, she approached him. “Sesshoumaru? Can you hear me…?”

His rheumy red gaze focused slightly. She reached out, brushing her fingers along the stripe on his jaw, surprised at the softness of his fur. Blue slit pupils slanted toward her.

“Er, sorry,” she said, dropping her hand with a blush as he transformed, clawed fingers digging into the front of her tattered shirt.

She gasped as he dragged her toward him, glassy eyes staring into her own. His chest heaved beneath his busted armor, his mouth drawn tight in obvious pain. Kagome’s throat went dry.

For a long moment he studied her face, Kagome hardly daring to breathe herself. Finally, his grip slackened, silver lashes lowering as he released her and collapsed onto his side. With a tired sigh, she sat back on her haunches.

“Hey,” she said, shaking his shoulder. “We should probably get out of here before the sun goes down.”

A muscle in his jaw twitched, but otherwise he didn’t respond. Kagome sighed again.

A low snort drew her attention. She glanced back at Entei, following the demon horse’s gaze upward, toward a distant dot on the horizon. Her senses tingled as the dot grew larger, emitting a faint, foreign aura of youki–even from this far away.

“You’ve  _got_  to be kidding me,” Kagome groaned.


	11. Chapter Eleven

  **Chapter Eleven**

There was no doubt about it—a massive, powerful demon was approaching them.

_Fast_.

Kagome grimaced in dread. She was in no condition to fight, and Sesshoumaru was practically KO’d. They had to get out of here— _now_.

“C’mon,” she grunted, wrapping her good arm around the daiyoukai from behind and beginning to pull.

He was surprisingly light, considering his height and build. But with her left arm injured and the rest of her aching with fatigue, she couldn’t gain much traction. Meanwhile, what now appeared to be a gigantic two-headed dragon was drawing closer by the second.

She was running through her limited list of options when an irritatingly familiar voice rang out from the vicinity of the beast.

_“Milooooord!”_

“Thank the gods,” Kagome exhaled, sliding bonelessly to the ground.

She had never been more happy to see Jakken’s unsightly face—a sentiment that vanished an instant later as he hopped down from his draconic mount and gaped at her in horrified rage.

“YOU,” he cried, gesturing wildly with his staff. “ _What have you done to milord?!_ ”

Pushing Sesshoumaru’s dead weight off her lap, she sprang to her feet, fuming. “I haven’t done anything to him. You just got here, so don’t go making assumptions!”

Her eyebrow twitched as Jakken continued to gape.

“What?” she snapped, looking down to where he was staring.

All the blood rushed straight to her face. The inner thighs of her jeans had been burned away from where she’d sat astride Entei, the seat of her pants partially scorched out as well. It looked like she was wearing a pair of tattered denim chaps.

With a loud  _eep,_ Kagome snatched for her backpack, which hung suspended from Jakken’s spiny shoulders, making him look like an oversized, bipedal turtle. Normally, she would have laughed—but now just wasn’t the time. Digging through her pack in a frenzy, she extricated Inuyasha’s fire-rat hakama with a sound of relief.

The pants were too long for her, of course, but they would have to do. Rolling them up several times at the waist, she finally managed to get the hem not to drag. Strangely enough, it seemed that her skin had remained unaffected by Entei’s demon fire. Perhaps her reiki had protected her?

_That, or Entei-san has a twisted sense of humor_ , Kagome thought wryly.

Decent again, she turned toward Jakken, who had forgotten her and was now dancing around his master in a panic.

“Oh,  _milord!_ ” he squawked, dropping to Sesshoumaru’s side and cradling his silver head in his lap. “This Jakken shall defend you from that vile, baseless wench.”

“Give me a break,” Kagome muttered, reddening again as she turned away and cupped her hands around her mouth. “Riiiin-chaaaan! You can come out now—it’s safe!”

A ponytailed figure popped into view a few seconds later, bounding toward them.

“Miko-sama, Rin is here!” Catching sight of the unconscious daiyoukai, she froze with a gasp. “Sesshoumaru-sama…?”

“Don’t worry,” Kagome said, placing a comforting hand on Rin’s shoulder. “He’ll be all right. We’ll take him back to Edo village where he can rest and recover.”

Rin bit her lip, nodding.

“And call me Kagome, okay?”

The little girl gave her a wobbly smile. “Okay, Kagome-chan.”

Kagome smiled back.

Her expression sobered as she turned toward Jakken, who was glaring daggers at her through a sheen of milky tears. Both of his skinny green arms were curled defensively around Sesshoumaru’s listless neck.

As Entei trotted over, Kagome let loose a preemptive sigh.

“Jakken-san,” she began, in her most diplomatic tone, “we need to leave now. We have to get Sesshoumaru to safety.”

_Glare_.

“Er, Sesshoumaru-sama,” Kagome corrected tiredly. “Will you help me lift him?”

“Accursed humans,” she swore she heard him mutter as he reluctantly stood, raising Sesshoumaru up by the shoulders.

“…Appreciate it,” she grumbled.

Entei knelt down as Kagome picked up the daiyoukai’s legs and settled him onto the demon horse’s back. Wrapping her uninjured arm around his chest, she slid into place behind him.

His head lolled to the side, silver hair cascading down her shoulder in a waterfall of silk. A soft groan escaped his lips. She shifted a little at the sound, tearing her eyes away from the smooth pale stretch of his neck, which lay only a scant few inches from her face.

“...Right, let’s go!” she announced a bit too loudly, trying to ignore the fact that he was situated so firmly between her legs.

“Hai, Kagome-chan!” Rin called back enthusiastically as she climbed atop the dragon’s proffered forelimb and took hold of the reins of its twin muzzles.

Entei kicked off from the rocky ground, Rin and her reptilian mount following suit. With an affronted squeak, Jakken scrambled after them, grabbing hold of the dragon’s tail as it rose.

Sesshoumaru’s motley gang in tow, they set a swift course for Edo village, Entei dashing through the wintry sky without so much as a word from Kagome. Come to think of it, even during the battle with Mouryoumaru, the horse youkai had seemed to know intuitively where she wanted to go and how fast she wanted to get there. It was all very curious indeed—she would have to ask Sesshoumaru about it whenever he came-to.

A sudden tremor wracked the daiyoukai, shaking them both. Kagome gazed down at him in concern. His fangs were clenched, his bangs slick with sweat. A couple of glimmering droplets cascaded down his temple. When his hand gripped her hard around the thigh, she couldn’t help but gasp, certain his claws would have cut her if not for her protective outer clothing. After a minute, his tension eased, his low, spent half-sigh making her whole body flare with heat, despite the gravity of the situation.

Although she’d put on a brave face for Rin, Kagome was worried about him. Sure, he was incredibly powerful and had recovered from near-death injuries before. But it was Mouryoumaru’s miasma, after all, that had mortally wounded Inuyasha. And unlike his hanyou brother, Sesshoumaru’s youkai defenses were simply too strong for Kagome to help him. Any attempts to purify him would likely do more harm than good.

She would just have to hope—have to  _trust_ —that he was strong enough to heal himself on his own.

  **xXxXxXx**

As the sun began to set, the village came into view at last. Hugging Sesshoumaru a little tighter, Kagome hoped their appearance wouldn’t cause too much of an alarm. Here in the youkai-terrorized past, the sight of several powerful, unknown demons hurtling toward them wasn’t exactly a welcome one for the people of Sengoku Jidai.

Sure enough, as they began to descend, a cry rang out, some of the villagers arming themselves with farm implements while others ran for cover. By the time Kagome and her group touched down at the outskirts, a small crowd was rushing toward them—luckily with Granny Kaede at the forefront.

“ _Ningens!_ ” Jakken exclaimed hotly from atop the dragon’s saddle, brandishing his nintoujou at Kagome. “You’ve taken Sesshoumaru-sama to a  _ningen_  village!?”

“Can it,” Kagome snapped, though her heart wasn’t really in it. Raising her wounded arm as high as she dared, she hailed Kaede wearily. “Baa-chan, over here!”

Kaede hurried over to her side, squinting up at the younger priestess in the fading light. “Kagome, child, is that ye?”

Somewhat less trusting, a few of the other villagers accompanied the elderly miko, pitchforks poised at Entei. One stamp of the fire horse’s blazing hooves had them dropping their makeshift weapons and bolting back toward Edo in a panic.

“Yeah, it’s me,” Kagome answered, smiling slightly at how crazy this all must look. “Er, you already know Sesshoumaru, I think, but these are his companions: the little girl back there is Rin-chan, the imp’s name is Jakken, and the dragon…um—”

“Their name is Ah-Un!” Rin supplied helpfully.

“And who might this be?” Kaede asked, her one visible eye gazing thoughtfully at Entei.

“Oh, this—this is Entei-san. He’s, uh…” Kagome trailed off, uncertain. “He’s my horse, I guess.”

By now, Miroku had broken his way through the scattering throng. Slower because of her maimed leg, Sango trailed behind him at a distance, Kagome’s heart panging at the sight of her former friend.

“Listen, Baa-chan,” she began again, frowning, “I can explain all this later, but right now Sesshoumaru needs a safe place to rest. He’s been…he’s been poisoned.”

Kagome swallowed, unable to elaborate more than that without breaking down altogether.

Kaede nodded solemnly. “I see. Well, give him here, child.”

As Kagome began to awkwardly lower the daiyoukai down, Miroku came over to help. Between his good left arm and her good right one, they managed to stabilize Sesshoumaru. As his booted feet touched to the ground, his legs straightened, golden eyes cracking open narrowly when Kaede and Miroku each took him up under a shoulder. Injured as he was, Sesshoumaru was still present enough to be discomfited at being handled by two unfamiliar humans. Kagome chose to take that as a good sign.

She watched for a moment as they led him along, feeling strangely bereft now without his weight in her arms. Jakken’s loud obnoxious wail effectively destroyed the moment, as he toppled down from the dragon’s back and chased after his beloved lord. Shaking her head, Kagome was just about to lower herself to the ground when a ball of orange shot up into her lap.

“Kagome-chan!” Shippou cried, his tiny claws digging into the ruin of her shirt. “You’re hurt!”

“Shippou-chan…”

Tears welled in Kagome’s eyes, his tender concern sending her over the edge at last. She cuddled him close to her chest, touching her cheek to his.

“I’m okay, Shippou-chan,” she said softly after a while, dashing a hand across her eyes as she drew back. Smiling, she smoothed her thumb across his little frowning chin. “Why don’t you introduce yourself to Rin-chan over there? Maybe you have a new top you could show her…?”

“Well…” the fox kit hesitated, glancing over at the little girl who was peering at him shyly from behind one of Ah-Un’s scaly legs. “Okay.”

As he bounded over, Kagome dismounted stiffly, cringing at the dull throbbing pain in her left arm—now that she finally had nothing else to distract her from it. Giving Entei a grateful pat on the neck, she circled around him, freezing when she met Sango on his other side. As Kirara and Entei studied one another, the taijiya studied Kagome, her expression unreadable. After a moment, Sango reached inside a pouch at her hip, extracting a small round tin. Kagome accepted it, her brow furrowed in question.

“A salve,” Sango explained shortly, already starting to turn, “for your arm.”

Kagome stared down at the little tin, swallowing thickly. “Sango-chan, wait.”

The taijiya paused.

“Kohaku-kun—I saw him today. He’s alive and…and he’s okay, Sango-chan.”

“Yes!” Rin piped up cheerily from Shippou’s side. “The tentacle-man tried to hurt Kohaku-kun, but Kagome-chan saved him with her arrow!”

Kagome blushed. Sango looked at her abruptly.

“Is that true? Kohaku…is he really…?”

Shoulders hunching, Sango turned away again, raising a trembling hand to her face. Kagome shifted, uncertain whether to comfort her or not. After a moment, Sango’s shoulders straightened. Once more, the taijiya glanced back, her head bowing slightly.

“…Thank you.”

Kagome’s heart lifted. It wasn’t forgiveness, exactly, but it was a start.

She nodded, smiling back. “Don’t mention it.”

As she and Sango parted ways, the kids and Ah-Un racing after the taijiya at the mere mention of dinner being made, Kagome headed in the direction of Kaede’s hut. Entei glided along beside her, half-supporting her as she leaned more and more heavily into his heated flank. She’d never felt so exhausted in her entire life.

On the verge of total collapse, she reached the threshold at last. The scene inside the hut had her alert again in an instant. Pushing past a hysterical Jakken, she fell to Sesshoumaru’s side.

Miroku and Kaede had laid the daiyoukai out on a futon at the back of the room, and already the bedroll was damp with sweat, the fabric twisted and shredded beneath his clenching claws. As Kagome looked on, another convulsion seized him, blood spilling down the sharp line of his shimmering jaw as his fangs pierced through his bottom lip.

“The situation is grave,” Miroku observed with a frown, standing across from her on Sesshoumaru’s other side.

Next to him, Kaede nodded, one wrinkled hand braced beneath her chin. “Aye. Naraku’s miasma is foul indeed, and Sesshoumaru-sama has suffered a mighty dose.”

Nails buried in his sleeve, Kagome looked up at her desperately. “Baa-chan, what can we can we do to help him? There must be something!”

Kaede’s eye widened briefly at the younger miko before narrowing circumspectly at Sesshoumaru.

“He must needs sweat the poison out,” she declared after a moment, nodding again. “Tis the only way. To that end, perhaps ye can assist him.”

Kagome’s cheeks flared scarlet, she and Miroku sharing a tense, lecherous glance before both of them stared— _startled_ —at Kaede. “Baa-chan! W-what are you suggesting…?”

“That ye build up the fire in the hearth, and keep it burning as hot as ye can,” Kaede replied tersely, hands perched on her hips. “What else d’ye  _think_  I be suggestin’?”

“Er…n-nothing,” Kagome managed weakly.

Putting a couple of extra logs on the fire, Kagome returned to the futon, where Kaede was still assessing the demon lord with a critical eye.

“Now, let us see to him,” she said in a brisk, business-like tone, kneeling down at Sesshoumaru’s other side and reaching for the clasps of his armor. “Lend me a hand, will ye?”

Kagome’s fingers fumbled at the buckles and straps—a few of the closures so mangled that Miroku had to break them off with the blunt end of his shakujou. When at last they eased the heavy, dented armor off of him, Sesshoumaru exhaled audibly in relief. As Kaede began to loosen the sweat-slicked neck of his haori, Miroku coughed lightly.

“I’ll leave you ladies to it,” he said with a bow. “If I can be of any other assistance, please let me know.”

“Hai—thank you, Miroku-san,” Kagome said with a smile, blue eyes slanting over her shoulder. “…Would you mind taking  _him_  with you when you go?”

In the span of a few minutes, Jakken had gone from hysterical to full-on catatonic. Curled behind her in an approximation of the fetal position, the imp stared fixedly at Sesshoumaru’s pained expression, bulging yellow eyes streaming with silent tears.

”Of course,” the monk said, sliding his shakujou through Jakken’s vest and carrying him out.

Kagome’s attention returned to the task at hand. Kaede had already drawn open Sesshoumaru’s outer and inner haori, exposing a broad, glistening swathe of his muscled chest. The younger miko bit the inside of her cheek, her eyebrow twitching as aged hands continued to descend.

“ _Hey—_ Baa-chan,” Kagome growled. “I don’t think you need to loosen  _those_.”

The elderly miko flinched, her fingers retreating guiltily from the ties of Sesshoumaru’s hakama. Massaging her temples, Kagome sighed.

It was going to be a long night.

  **xXxXxXx**

After applying Sango’s salve and re-bandaging Kagome’s wound, Kaede left her to it, despite the younger miko’s reservations.

“I trust ye can manage,” the old woman said brusquely as she took up her satchel and headed for the door. “I’ve a birthin’ to attend to.”

“But, Baa-chan…”

“Ye will be fine,” Kaede said with a wave. “There be extra firewood out back, if ye have need of it.”

And with that, the noren curtain swung shut behind her. Kagome deflated, her gaze shifting helplessly toward Sesshoumaru’s comatose form. He was still sweating profusely, his features tense and his exposed skin gleaming with perspiration—although he  _had_  seemed to relax a fraction at Kaede’s departure.

Kagome was heartened by this indirect display of trust. Even if he was only relying on her to the tiniest extent, she should make the most of it. Rising to her feet in determination, she approached the hearth.

“Sweat it out,” she repeated to herself, punching her fist into her palm. “Okay, then—let’s  _do this_.”

She piled on as much wood as the hearth could bear, stoking the fire into a roaring blaze. As soon as the flames began to shrink, she added another log, and another. It wasn’t long before the stack of wood inside the hut started to dwindle.

Not even bothering to put on her coat, Kagome burst from the dwelling, bowling over a snoozing Jakken on her way around to the back. The cold air doused her like a pitcher of ice-water—refreshing and jarring all at once. Teeth chattering, she found a small cart nearby and began loading wood into it by the armful. When the cart reached maximum capacity, she wheeled it around.

“Accursed horse!” a shrill voice cried out ahead of her.

Approaching the doorway, she encountered Jakken trying to sneak his way into the hut past Entei’s fiery-hooved blockade. As the imp made yet another attempt to break through, a flaming tail lashed out, sending him sprawling once again. Seething, Jakken glared up at Entei from the dirt, shaking his nintoujou threateningly. With a smoky snort, the horse looked away, unimpressed.

“ _Wench_!” the imp exclaimed, rounding on her. “Tell your nag to move aside—this Jakken demands to see Sesshoumaru-sama!”

“Yeah, not happening.” As Entei shifted to let her pass, Kagome set the cart down just inside the threshold before turning back to Jakken. “Sesshoumaru doesn’t need you hovering over him. He’s stressed enough as it is. You can see him when he wakes up.”

“Insolent ningen!” he shouted after her as the curtain closed behind her. “How dare you— _Yeeeeaaargh_!”

Behind her, there was the pungent, oily smell of burning clothes and imp skin, followed by a resounding splash as Jakken doused himself in the wash bucket outside. Rolling her eyes at his enraged spluttering, Kagome pushed the cart further inside and set about tending to the neglected fire.

As the flames soared high again, she resumed her silent vigil at Sesshoumaru’s side. He wasn’t looking any better, but he also wasn’t looking any worse. For the next few hours, she alternated between stoking the fire and gently dabbing at his forehead with whatever scraps of cloth she could find, her own sweat soon dripping down onto the floor to pool with his.

The hut had become absolutely stifling, and Kagome sweltered even after paring her clothing down to just a pair of panties and a camisole. Now both garments were soaked through, the white fabric practically transparent. So when Sesshoumaru’s eyes opened toward her sometime around midnight, the inferno around them had  _nothing_  on the white-hot heat that seared through her at his brief, feverish appraisal.

As his eyes closed again, Kagome sagged wearily onto her palms, his colored lids twitching as he slipped once more into restless dreams. Exhaustion tugged at her like a fishhook in her brain, though the worry in her heart fatigued her even more. Propped up on her right elbow, she lay down beside him, praying that his fever broke soon—before it finished off the both of them...

  **xXxXxXx**

_He walked through the halls of his father’s house._

_Candles flickered, low and lambent in their holds, yellow light bending along walls that warped and trembled—undulating in time with the sound of two lovers’ commingled moans. His claws flexed, anger boiling within him as he advanced—slowly, as if through sand. She was here—that woman Izayoi. His father had brought her here, of all places…_

_Of the Inu no Taishou’s many insults, this was the gravest yet—a vile and flagrant offense. Rutting that human bitch within earshot of his own noble mother—it was a slight he could not bear._

_As he drew at last to the end of the hall, a door slid open ahead of him, of its own accord. He stepped through, freezing at the sight before him._

_In the middle of the room lay his father, naked on his back, his arched spine tensed and rigid, his eyes screwed shut in pleasure as his claws dug into the soft, creamy hips that moved above him. But the woman astride him was not Izayoi._

_It was the miko._

_In sick, morbid fascination he watched as she rose and descended, impaling herself slowly, purposefully on his father’s pale length, the ivory shaft splitting her, exposing her—vanishing and reappearing from between her legs in a vulgar, fleeting rhythm. Her head was thrown back, her dark, lustrous hair spilling down her shoulders in an inky fall. Her breasts heaved, peaked and full, striving against the cups of shimmering black fabric that concealed them._

_As her pace increased, as her desire mounted, her face turned toward him, blue eyes sliding open, hazy and dark with lust. Her pink lips parted, barely._

_“Sesshoumaru…”_

_And now he was the one beneath her, his own claws guiding her bitterly down, sinking through her tender flesh as he seared and groaned with consuming heat. Her eyes widened in alarm, her blood streaming down his hands, over her still-roving thighs, between their crashing bodies. His fingers rose to her throat, squeezing, cutting—he could feel the fire in his gaze, see the pain mirrored in her own. But he could not stop, he could not—_

_A spear point burst from her chest, cleaving her through the heart. They were on the cliffside again, and she was falling against him, and he was holding her as the life bled from her in rivers of crimson, staining the parched earth below. Hakudoushi smirked down at them from the air above, Mouryoumaru’s venomous tentacles creeping toward them, unhindered, wrapping around them both._

_And all he could think of was her. All he could do was look into her flat blue stare as Naraku’s miasma raged through his veins. Green light burned—around him, within him._

_He surrendered to the blaze, and when he opened his eyes again she was there, floating above him, clothed in sheer white. Radiant and beautiful. Her eyes gleamed down at him in concern, beckoning him. Urging him. He tried to reach for her, but his hands remained fixed at his sides. And now she was slipping away—drifting out of his sight as the darkness rose up to claim him._

_He stared down into the empty blackness of the well, and there was nothing. She was gone. He had lost her, again. And he despised himself more for the feeling of it than for the failure. And all around him, echoing up from the depths was the sound of laughter—mocking and cruel—his father’s, his brother’s, Naraku’s, hers…_

_And he hated her._

_And he wanted her._

_He wanted her even more than he hated her. And so he plunged down, tearing through the darkness with claw and fang, dissolving it with a virulence that surpassed all else—burning through to the light on the other side._

  **xXxXxXx**

She must have nodded off for a moment. One minute, Kagome was calmly lying next to Sesshoumaru on her side—the next, she was sprawled beneath him, flat on her back, gazing up at him in dim surprise as he glared down at her with hooded amber eyes. His silver hair hung in ribbons around her, his bangs obscuring his face in jagged grey streaks. He panted, his skin still shiny and damp, but he wasn’t actively sweating anymore.

Kagome seized the front of his gaping haori with both hands, her heart nearly bursting from her chest in elated relief. “Sesshoumaru! Your fever’s broken—thank the gods!”

The daiyoukai didn’t seem to share in her enthusiasm. His grip tightened on her injured arm, making her wince in pain. Blood blossomed through the strips of her bandage. His heavy lids lifted slightly, his gaze no less shadowed as he opened his hand and stared at the fresh blood staining his palm.

“Miko,” he murmured, his attention shifting back to her face. “You’re alive.”

Hesitantly, she nodded. Even though he was in the clear, he still seemed pretty out of sorts. Mutely, she watched as he licked her blood from his hand, his eyes trained upon her own. The intensity in that look chilled her. Instinctively, Kagome sensed that she was on dangerous ground.

_Better tread carefully_ , she thought.

So when his hand, now cleansed, moved to her nape, she didn’t shy away from his hold. When the full length of his body fell over hers, she didn’t attempt to wriggle out from underneath him. When his mouth fell to the column of her throat, she didn’t try to break the contact. Her head lolled submissively to the side as his lips skirted her pulse, his nose scenting her deeply.

“ _Kagome_ ,” he rumbled.

She shivered when his tongue trailed along the sensitive, salty casing of her skin, his lips lingering at the junction of her neck and shoulder. Slick fangs curved over the tendon there, biting into her flesh just barely. She whimpered—her first mistake.

He growled into her collar, his thigh wedging between both of her own. Kagome’s fists curled reflexively against his chest, her heart pounding like mad, her breath escaping her in pants now, too. He ground his hips hard into hers—and with a soft gasp, she ground back.

Her second mistake.

Sesshoumaru reared up from her, his eyes tingeing crimson as he raked a hand down her front. The fabric of her camisole snagged on his hooked claws, faint red scratches rising up on her exposed stomach. When the heel of his hand pressed against her mound, her own palm flew to her mouth to stifle her shocked cry.

“Do you want me, miko?” he asked her, his voice low, but astonishingly cool.

Before she could even answer, his forefinger was curving through the damp crotch of her panties, his bent knuckle grazing along her wet tender skin, parting her outer folds as he dipped just barely into her brimming core. Kagome’s head fell back as she arched, helplessly, into his touch.

He leaned back over her, into her. Tugging aside the slim bridge of her underwear, he brought his clothed erection against her bare dripping sex. “Do you want me as badly as I want you?”

He was close—so  _close_. And, still, so maddeningly far. Kagome moaned, feeling as though she was viewing herself from above as her desire for him possessed her fully. She didn’t just want him—she  _needed_  him.

It was a fact that deepened, strengthened— _sharpened_ —as he lowered his mouth to her breast, licking and pulling at her hardened nipple through the thin, sweat-soaked fabric of her shirt. Once more his fangs were sinking into her, and she was rising into him, her fingers curling into his heavy hair, nails scraping against his scalp as she urged him on.

“Don’t…don’t stop.”

Without pausing, he released his hold on her stretched-out panties, his fingers going to the ties of his hakama instead. A powerful, fearful anticipation stole over her as she waited for him to free himself with bated breath—

Before his shoulders sagged, and his body went slack on top of hers, his face falling against her throat with gruff exhale. For a moment, Kagome just lay there beneath his unconscious body in stunned, tense disbelief.

“...Sesshoumaru?” she ventured, shifting. “Sesshoumaru, hey…”

No response.

Wracked with desire and now starting to feel distinctly crushed, Kagome huffed, the back of her head hitting the floor.

“Great,” she muttered. “Just…great.”


	12. Chapter Twelve

**Chapter Twelve**

With effort, Kagome finally managed to roll Sesshoumaru off of her. Panting with exertion, she righted her clothes as much as she could and tried to gather her scattered wits together. She felt a pressing need to take inventory of the situation.

First off, Sesshoumaru was no longer in mortal danger. Looking over at him, Kagome noted that he was now sleeping peacefully, his breathing deep and even once again. Despite how erratically it was still beating, her beleaguered heart lifted at the sight.

Second off, she had almost had sex with him. Immediately, Kagome’s head started to spin...She would have to come back to that one later.

Shivering, the young miko realized that the fire in the hearth had burned down almost to embers. Her whole body ached as she got to her feet and padded over to rekindle it. She needed a bath something fierce, but that would just have to wait until morning.

In the meantime, she pulled on a pair of proper pajamas and settled down on a spare futon across from the slumbering demon lord. Studying him in profile, she revisited that episode of being trapped beneath him, of feeling his hands on her, his mouth on her—of feeling his hardness wedged between her thighs. Just the memory of it had her frazzled nerves zinging.

As badly as she had wanted him in that moment—as badly as she still wanted him  _now_ —Kagome was glad things had ended when they did. Although she supposed Sesshoumaru had a right to take her whenever he chose, according to the terms of their agreement, she suspected that he would prefer to be in his right mind while doing so. Furthermore, from her perspective, sleeping with one’s fever-addled patient hardly seemed like an ethical thing to do.

Kagome flushed all over again with mortification. If she hadn’t been so thoroughly exhausted, there was no way she would have been able to sleep that night. But as soon as her leaden eyelids slid shut, she was out like a light.

It was late in the morning when she awoke, cool and sticky, her cheek plastered to her bedroll. Her skin pulled and itched as she sat up, her hair clumped against her face and neck. She had no idea what she must look like right now, and frankly she never wanted herself—or  _anyone else_ —to know.

Hoping to sneak off to the bathhouse undetected, Kagome stood, preparing to tiptoe over to her yellow backpack, when she noticed a set of golden eyes upon her. Reclining against the rear wall of the hut, Sesshoumaru watched her, looking distinctly—yet somehow still  _elegantly_ —rumpled.

“Oh, you’re awake,” Kagome said, cringing inwardly at how dumb that had sounded. “Er…do you need anything?”

“Water,” he replied stiffly.

Hurrying over to the jug in the corner, Kagome filled a cup and hurried back to him. His fingertips brushed hers as he accepted it, the brief contact making her blush.

Draining the cup in one tilt, Sesshoumaru handed it back to her with an impatient look. “More.”

A little irked at his imperious tone, Kagome decided to let it go, refilling the cup for him two more times before she finally just brought over the entire jug. In dim amazement, she watched as he hefted it up with both hands, downing the entire thing in a series of steady gulps.

“How long was I unconscious?” he asked, setting the jug aside.

“Not quite a day,” she answered, fiddling with her thumbs. “If you, um, don’t count last night…”

His eyes narrowed. “Last night?”

Kagome stiffened.  _He doesn’t remember anything._ She wasn’t quite sure whether to feel disappointed or relieved.

“What happened last night?” he demanded.

“Um…n-nothing!” she said hastily, throwing up her hands. “It just seemed like you came to for a minute there—but I guess not! Eheh.”

He frowned, regarding her intently for a moment more before he glanced away, his nose wrinkling faintly.

“Miko, you need to bathe.”

Kagome glowered, her fists clenching at her sides in indignation. Maybe unconscious Sesshoumaru hadn’t been so bad, after all. 

Stomping over to her yellow backpack and hefting it up, Kagome turned on her heel and left Kaede’s hut with as much dignity as she could muster. As she pushed past the noren curtain, she met Jakken on the porch—still maintaining his loyal vigil. Leaning against the door frame, the imp hugged his nintoujou between his bony arms, faintly shivering as he met her with a wary glare.

Kagome had to admit, she admired his dedication.

“You can go in now,” she said. “He’s up.”

Without so much as a backward glance, the imp barreled across the threshold, nearly tripping over his staff. His high-pitched wail of “ _Milord!_ ” hurt even Kagome’s dull human ears—she could only imagine how much it must have pierced Sesshoumaru’s. A small smile pulled at her lips as she set out for the bathhouse, a little more spring in her step.

_Revenge,_ she thought _, is sweet indeed._

As she crossed the yard, Entei lifted his head in question, part of an excavated root sticking out from the corner of his muzzle. The image was so very horse-like that Kagome had to stop and laugh.

“I’ll be back in a little while,” she told him with a pat, intelligent red eyes considering her for a moment before he went back to munching.

The winter bathhouse was pretty well deserted this time of day—so Kagome had the spring-fed tub all to herself. Relaxing into the balmy heat, she scrubbed at her grimy hair and skin, her injured left arm resting aloft on the ledge. It still hurt something awful, but while the wound was deep, it was exceedingly narrow—so narrow, in fact, that it hadn’t even required stitches. As long as she didn’t jar it too much, Kaede had told her, it should start to scab in a few days.

Glancing over at her bloodied bandages, Kagome’s stomach sank.  _Well, so much for that._

She remembered watching Sesshoumaru’s tongue trail through her blood on his palm, and a tremor seized her, despite the heat. The act had been so terrifying and alluring all at once.  _Terrifying and alluring_ …that was a pretty good way to describe the demon lord, in general.

Kagome froze.

Without even realizing it, she’d been running her fingertips over the set of bite marks on her left breast. They were faint, but terribly sensitive to the touch, her nipple hardening beneath her palm as she stroked them lightly again.

Darting a quick look around—even though she knew nobody else was there—she sank a little farther beneath the water’s surface, her hand falling from her breast to her inner thigh. Telling herself she just needed to wash anyway, she slipped her fingers into the cleft between her legs, testing herself.

Even in the water she was noticeably wet, and Kagome bit her lip as she probed a little deeper, her finger sinking just barely inside of her—like the point of his knuckle had the night before. Even now it seemed surreal that he had been touching her there. Wondering where  _else_  he might have touched her, she trailed her fingers up from her slick entrance and rolled them across the throbbing little bud that was situated higher up, framed by a dusting of soft, floating curls.

Closing her eyes, she imagined him looming over her once again—the hard muscles of his chest and abs glistening through the gap in his haori, his own hand cupping her between the thighs as his liquid gold eyes studied her with that dark, rapt hunger. She could feel his cool breath near her ear as he leaned in, his tongue sliding along the edge of her jaw.

_“Do you want me, miko?”_

“…yes,” she whimpered, her hips bucking reflexively into her hand.

Her fingers’ pace increased, but it was no longer her own touch that she felt. In her mind, his smooth, firm lips glided along her cheek, his mouth coming to rest just above her own. Her breath hitched, her muscles going perilously taut.

“ _Do you want me,_ Kagome _?”_

“Yes!” she gasped, her back bowing as she came hard against her mad, roving fingers. “Oh gods,  _yes_!”

Kagome’s eyes flew open at her throaty scream, her orgasm surging through her like the waves now crashing violently against the sides of the tub. Belatedly, she clapped a wet hand over her mouth, heart pounding as she listened to a couple of frightened doves outside on the roof take flight.

Hopefully, they’d been her  _only_  audience... 

Hair still uncomfortably wet, Kagome hastened her way back to Kaede’s hut, her bare arms clutching one another in the chilly air. Knowing she’d just have to clean and re-bandage her wound, she’d decided to forego long sleeves for the moment—cold though it was. Maybe it was the pronounced drop in her body temperature, but as her destination came into sight at last, Kagome’s empty stomach finally decided to voice its distinct displeasure.

_Food,_ she thought ruefully as it churned—now  _there_  was something she’d forgotten even existed. Before she passed out from low blood sugar, she’d have to fix at least a snack for herself. It’d probably do Sesshoumaru good to eat something as well.

_Probably_. Checking herself with a snort, Kagome realized that she had  _no idea_  what was good for him or not—except, of course, for spending prolonged amounts of time in her company.  _That_  always seemed to end badly for him…

Tamping down her guilt, Kagome entered the cozy dwelling. Granny Kaede was still MIA—either the baby she was supposed to be delivering was taking its sweet precious time, or the elderly miko was sleeping off her exhaustion somewhere else. Whatever the case, the only current occupants were Sesshoumaru—wearing a pinched expression of annoyance—and his trusty vassal, simpering and blubbering at his side. If Kagome didn’t know any better, she’d have assumed that Sesshoumaru was on his deathbed still—from the way Jakken was carrying on.

At her arrival, she could have sworn the daiyoukai looked almost relieved. His golden eyes fell to his fretting servant.

“Leave us,” he ordered, his voice cutting through Jakken’s antics like a hot knife through butter.

“Y-yes, milord!” the imp stammered tearfully— _gratefully_? “A-at once, milord!”

Kagome’s brow arched as she watched him go. It almost seemed like he was  _happy_  to be kicked out of the room.

_So_ , she mused, this _is what their relationship is like…_

But the idea of Jakken as a masochist wasn’t a pleasant one to dwell on, so Kagome dismissed it with a shake of her head as she walked over to Kaede’s shelves upon shelves of medical supplies. Peeling off her stiff, rusty wrappings, she glanced over at Sesshoumaru—who was watching her intently.

“Um…how do you feel?” she asked, feeling nervous  _herself_  under his close scrutiny.

“Alive,” he replied, in his usual dead-pan.

“Ano…that’s good,” Kagome said, a grin twitching at the corners of her mouth. “Are you hungry? I was going to make some lunch soon.”

Coolly, he looked askance. “I don’t eat human food.”

“Of course you don’t…” she muttered grouchily.

After cleaning her wound with care, Kagome dabbed on a liberal amount of Sango’s salve. Immediately, the ointment set to work, numbing the nagging pain of her injury. A soft sigh of relief broke past her lips. Finding some strips of fresh linen, she held one end between her teeth as she awkwardly began to bind herself up with just her right arm.

“Miko.”

Pausing, Kagome glanced over to see Sesshoumaru beckoning her with a crooked claw. Her heart skipped a beat as her mind took a brief detour into the gutter. Tousled silver hair, disheveled clothes,  _come hither_  expression—the fact that he was calling her over to his  _bed_  of all places really just completed the image.

Blushing, she approached him, the strip of cloth trailing unnoticed from her arm. When she sank down at his side, he took wordless charge of her shoddy bandage-work, deft fingers winding and securing the fabric snugly against her skin.

His lashes were lowered—hers as well. Her hip rested against his muscular thigh, the warmth of his body bleeding into hers even through the layers of silk and denim that separated them.

“Thank you,” she said softly, meeting his gaze.

Inclining his head, he lifted a hand to a damp lock of hair dripping faintly onto the front of her shirt. Ivory claws kneaded the heavy strands for a moment before sliding them back over her shoulder. When the pad of his thumb lingered at the base of her neck, she winced, watching his golden eyes narrow at the fang marks on her skin.

Kagome’s heart stuttered. In her earlier preoccupation over the bite marks on her breast, she had completely forgotten about the ones on her neck. They were fainter—just the barest of indentations, a neat set of pin-pricks in her flesh. But now they tingled and twinged like bee stings, and the way he was pressing down on them wasn’t helping matters.

“I did this to you,” he spoke at last.

It wasn’t a question, so Kagome didn’t feel the need to answer. Instead, she swallowed, her fingers tugging and twisting at the hem of her shirt. When she tried to glance away, his hand moved suddenly, clawed thumb and forefinger steering her back by the chin.

“Tell me,” he said, his voice low and forbidding, “what happened last night.”

Kagome stared at him in trepidation, but his own stare was level and unblinking— _demanding_. Words rose up and lodged themselves firmly in her throat, a fierce blush stealing over her entire face as she attempted to pry them out.

“You—last night, you…ah, that is,  _we_ —”

“Out with it, girl,” he nearly growled.

“You tried to have sex with me!” she blurted.

Sesshoumaru frowned. Kagome flinched. The crackle of the hearth resounded like thunder in the silence.

“I see,” he said after a moment, his eyes falling to her throat again. “And you prevented me?”

“No!—I mean…you were obviously really out of it, Sesshoumaru. After a few minutes, you kind of just…passed out.”

His gaze snapped sharply to hers. “A few minutes…what are you saying?”

Kagome blanched. She  _really_  was making a terrible mess of this…

“You didn’t try to stop me,” he accused, icy anger replacing the disbelief in his tone. “You would have let me…” He bit off, eyes closing briefly. “I would not even have remembered.”

Guilt surged through her. True, she hadn’t tried to stop him—but what could she have done, short of purifying him? Although she had never consciously made the decision, Kagome realized now that no matter what happened between them, she could never do that to him again. She could never bring herself to hurt him— _ever_  again.

Her eyes softened as she reached for him. “Sesshoumaru…”

Hard fingers wrapped around her right wrist, hauling her toward him. Kagome quailed, her left hand falling against him as she braced herself in his hold. Though his expression was stony, his irises were framed in a tinge of red. Without a doubt, he was as furious as she had ever seen him.

“You will tell me every detail,” he declared, his face an inch from hers. “You will not stutter. You will not mince words. I  _will know_  what transpired between us.”

Fear gripped her even as a tendril of arousal unfurled within her. Maybe it was the rumble of his voice, the pressure of his touch, the anticipation of what she was about to say—maybe it was all of these things combined that caused her palm to flatten against his chest as she drew closer to him and nodded her assent.

“Okay, Sesshoumaru—I’ll tell you.”

Slow and steady, his heart beat under her palm. Drawing in a measured breath, Kagome attempted to steady out her own.

“I was lying on my side, next to you, trying to stay awake,” she began. “But I must have dozed off at some point. The next thing I knew, I was pinned underneath you. I don’t remember you putting me there, but you must have pulled me under by this arm”—she lifted her left shoulder for emphasis—“because you were still holding it, and my cut was bleeding again…”

Kagome trailed off as clawed fingers touched lightly to her bandaged arm, his expression contemplative.

“Continue,” he said.

“Right,” she resumed, struggling to re-rail her train of thought. “Like I said before, you were clearly out of it. You didn’t even seem to realize I was alive, at first. Some of my blood was on your hand.” Kagome flushed from chest to crown. “You watched me, while you licked it off.”

The tip of a claw skirted along the inside of her bandage. “And did you like it?”

Kagome’s flush deepened. “...Yes.”

“Which part?”

Kagome considered—the watching, or the licking?

“Both,” she admitted faintly.

Sesshoumaru nodded. “Go on.”

“After your hand was cleaned, you cupped the back of my head, and bent over me. You pressed your lips to my throat, and breathed me in, and...you said my name.”

The words were coming more easily now, tumbling from her lips almost as fast as she could recall them. Beneath her hand, his pulse increased slightly.

His grip tightened on her wrist, his deep voice pitching lower still. “You submitted.”

“Yeah,” Kagome breathed out. “I submitted. You started to lick your way down my neck, and when you got here,” she said, pointing to the junction of her neck and shoulder, “that was when you bit me. And it hurt—but only a little. Mostly, it felt”—she shuddered—“ _good_. Really good. And I think you could tell because then your leg went between mine.”

As she spoke, his hand fell from her left arm to her thigh, curving in. Kagome’s breath hitched, her lower half pulsing with heat. Her legs parted unconsciously as his fingers advanced toward her front.

“You pushed between my legs, and I could feel you,” she continued, almost in a whisper. “I pushed back, because I wanted to feel you even more.”

Moisture seeped from her core at the memory of his hardness between her thighs. Thank Kami she was wearing jeans. Anything thinner would have already been soaked through.

“You pulled back and slid your hand down my body—all the way down. Your claws scratched me a little, but I didn’t mind. One of your fingers slid through my underwear, and I could feel you against me—”

The pad of his finger skimmed along the vertical inner seam of her jeans, the point of his claw catching slightly against the coarse fabric. “Like this?”

Kagome’s eyes fluttered closed for a moment as she sucked in a bracing breath. “Yes, but— _inside,_ too. Just barely. But I knew—I knew you could feel how wet I was.”

“For  _me_?” he asked huskily— _rhetorically_ —as he leaned in, just as he had in her bathhouse fantasy.

“For you,” she affirmed softly, meeting his simmering gaze. “You asked me if I wanted you, but you didn’t give me the chance to answer.”

His thumb pressed down below the zipper of her jeans, meeting his forefinger—pinching her swollen nub deliciously even through the denim. Kagome’s head swam at the sensation.

“And?” he demanded presently. “Did you  _want me_ , Kagome?”

She shivered. “I did.”

“And when you were pleasuring yourself in the bath earlier,” he growled, his hand sliding down, molding firmly around her, “is this what you were thinking of?”

Kagome’s eyes flared wide with shock and desire. “You—you heard me?”

He ignored her question, tugging her forward by the groin as he pressed his lips near her ear. “What else?”

Spots danced across Kagome’s vision, her nails curling against his unyielding chest. “You asked me again if I wanted you—if I wanted you as badly as you wanted me. Then, right before you passed out, you tugged my underwear aside, and pressed your—your  _erection_  against my bare skin. And all the while you had your mouth on my breast, through my shirt. You bit me there, too.”

Sesshoumaru drew back. His eyes were molten as he regarded her intensely.  _Indulgently_.

“Show me,” he commanded.

For a moment, Kagome forgot how to breathe.

With one last parting scrape over the clothed, throbbing tip of her sex, his clawed fingers returned to his side. Eyes fixed upon her still, the demon lord reclined fully against the wall of the hut. His gaze was heavy-lidded, expectant.

Kagome licked her dry lips nervously. It was one thing to  _say_  these things to him—quite another to actually  _do_  them. Her hands fidgeted once more at the strained hem of her t-shirt, sweat from her palms dampening and wrinkling the supple cotton.

“ _Kagome_ ,” Sesshoumaru prompted, showing her the barest glint of fang.

Her spine straightened, the sound of her name falling from his lips like that sending a shock of pleasure straight to her core. Her eyes seized upon him—tracing the angles of his sharp, chiseled features, drinking in the vibrancy of his markings, studying the reflection of herself in his own brilliant, metallic gaze. He was beyond handsome, beyond beautiful—beyond every human convention or description.

He defied them all.

She leaned in a little closer, her swollen lower lips parting around the central seam of her jeans, distending the thick denim there. She wondered if he could see between the shadows of her thighs, discern the bulging outline of her sex with that supernatural vision of his. Her nipples tightened at the thought, hardening to pebbles as her exposed nerve endings chafed further against the seam, and Kagome knew he could see  _that_  much, at least—even she herself could see her nipples peaking through her shirt, pushing past the thin padding of her bra.

His roiling aura betrayed his impatience, lashing faintly against her like the twitch of a cat’s tail. He was about to speak again when both of her hands started to rise with her top in tow, revealing a creamy swath of her skin. His unearthly eyes were riveted on her, and she felt their keen focus stronger than she’d ever felt any of Hojo’s fervent caresses. Her flat stomach tightened, her lower half giving a fateful thrum.

Sesshoumaru wasn’t touching her now—even when he’d touched her earlier, it had only been through her clothes. But still Kagome felt herself teetering on the verge of climax. The embodiment of male perfection wanted to see  _her_  naked—the sexiest creature in the universe was lusting after  _her_.

Kagome’s mind and body reeled, grappling to come to terms with this fact, as her shirt climbed slowly higher—

“Aye, he’s awake,” Kaede announced curtly from the doorway, the heavy curtain swinging aside. “The imp spoke true.”

The young miko went rigid, her hands dropping the front of her shirt like a hot coal. A dark cloud passed over Sesshoumaru’s otherwise impassive features. Kagome knew all too well what  _that_ particular look of his meant—pure  _murder_.

“Have ye eaten yet today?” Kaede blustered on obliviously, striding over and prodding at the hearth.

“Ah, no, Baa-chan—not yet,” Kagome replied, her voice coming out raspy and strained.

“Fetch me some water, then, child, and I’ll fix ye a meal,” the elder miko stated with her usual brisk efficiency. “Sesshoumaru-sama is not the only one who must needs recover his strength.”

“O-okay, Baa-chan. Thanks.”

Rising unsteadily to her feet, Kagome snatched up the empty water jug still resting on the floor nearby. As she turned to leave, Sesshoumaru caught her eye darkly— _meaningfully_. Their weighty glance exchanged, Kagome exited the hut, cradling the clay jug to her chest.

This, she knew, was far from over.

Mind abuzz, Kagome headed toward the forested edge of the village. From there, it was a short walk through the woods to the closest stream. Kagome’s thoughts raced as she made the trek, Entei following along serenely beside her. As she knelt down on the bank and dipped the clay jug beneath the frigid surface, her youkai companion lowered his muzzle to the water as well, steam billowing up as he began to drink.

“I just don’t know, Entei-san,” Kagome began on a sigh, watching air bubble from the neck of the jug as the icy current flowed in. “Something comes over me when I’m around him. It’s like I’m not even in control of myself. And I don’t think it’s just me—he acts recklessly, too. I thought he hated me, and maybe he still does, but there’s such a strong attraction between us. I can’t deny it, and neither can he. I just don’t know what to do about it. It feels…dangerous.”

The jug grew heavy in her hold. Water sloshed over the top as she hefted it up, little crystals of entrained ice sparkling on the backs of her hands.

“The thing is,” she continued, her voice falling almost to a whisper, “I don’t think I can stop.”

_I don’t_ want _to stop_ , she inwardly confessed.

The past two years replayed in her mind. Almost from the beginning, he had been a fixture in her thoughts—from their first encounter outside the village, when he’d glared down at her from atop the shoulder of a massive oni—to the severing and sealing of his arm during their battle in the demon graveyard—to the long months she’d spent trying to undo the damage at his command—to the breaking of the seal and his subsequent regeneration—to the moment after, when he’d pressed her against a tree and she’d finally understood that he  _wanted_   _her—_ to her frantic, uncontrollable purification of him and the fallout thereafter—to the even longer months she’d spent hiding away from him, agonizing over his touch, his words, the sear of his eyes—to her sheer exhilaration at seeing him again—to the feel of him between her thighs, in the cave, and the night before, and this morning, through her jeans. Two years of Sesshoumaru, two years of ever-spiraling lust. Two years for her to realize—

“I’m obsessed with him,” she admitted.

For a moment, the world seemed to go silent around her.

Entei paused mid-drink, glancing over as she set the jug down and began to pace. Well, there—she had said it. Now, what to do about it. Obsession was a destructive force—hadn’t she seen the consequences play out already? Inuyasha had been killed, Sesshoumaru had nearly died, Sango and Miroku had been gravely injured as well. All because of her. Because she had failed to keep her priorities straight.

A battle for the fate of mankind was being waged. She had loosed the Shikon no Tama upon the earth, and it was her responsibility to see it destroyed before it could wreak any more havoc—through Naraku or Mouryoumaru or anyone else.

“I  _have_  to rein this in,” she decided, looking toward Entei. “Until we’ve dealt with the Jewel, Sesshoumaru and I have to keep our distance. Surely, he’ll agree that that’s the right thing to do, don’t you think?”

Entei stared at her flatly. Kagome’s shoulders sank.

“And now I’m asking a  _horse_  for romantic advice,” she grumbled, running an exasperated hand through her bangs. “Sounds about right.”


	13. Chapter Thirteen

**Chapter Thirteen**

The walk back to Kaede’s hut felt much longer than the outbound trek to the stream. The pitcher of water dug bruisingly into Kagome’s hip, her tired fingers straining to maintain their hold. Still, she felt confident in her resolve as she shoved past the heavy curtain and marched over to her mentor.

“Here you go!” she said, setting down the jug with relish.

She could feel Sesshoumaru’s eyes upon her as she bustled around the hut, fetching and preparing ingredients at Kaede’s directive. Only when the stew was simmering above the hearth did she glance back, fixing him with a pointed look. He seemed to take the hint, his eyes sliding shut as he turned his attention away from their mundane human activities.

“Aye, just a few minutes more,” Kaede remarked after sampling a bit of the broth from the end of a wooden spoon. “Have ye given thought to where ye’ll be staying, child?”

“Staying?” Kagome blinked. “Baa-chan…are you kicking us out already?”

Kaede gave a short wave.

“Yon beds are for the ailing. There’s plenty of space for ye to shelter nearby.” A faint blush tinged her wrinkled cheeks as her lone eye slanted toward the aloof daiyoukai. “…Of course,  _Sesshoumaru-sama_  is welcome to convalesce here, if he so chooses.”

Kagome glowered at the older miko’s shameless tactics. Across the room, golden eyes opened narrowly.

“ _Baa-chan_ …” the younger miko admonished through gritted teeth.

Unabashed, Kaede chuckled as she began doling out the stew into a mismatched pair of wooden bowls. As Kagome accepted hers, the curtain swung open, and Rin burst through like a mini, orange-checked tornado, an irate Jakken puffing at her heels.

“Sesshoumaru-sama!” the little girl exclaimed, going at once to the demon lord’s side. “Rin was so worried!—Jakken-sama has been crying extra loud today.”

“Impertinent ningen!” the imp reproached, an ugly blush breaking out across the bridge of his beak. “Cease your irritating chatter this instant—Sesshoumaru-sama is in no mood to suffer your ridiculous prattle!”

“Jakken,” the daiyoukai spoke, his voice as frosty as the winter air.

The imp quailed, shooting bitter looks at Rin and Kagome both.

“Hey, what did  _I_  do?” the miko bit out around a mouthful of stew.

Entranced, she watched as Sesshoumaru’s pale, elegant hand withdrew from the fold of his sleeves, claws resting lightly atop Rin’s ponytailed head. The surprising gentleness with which he addressed his young ward caught Kagome completely off guard.

“I am well,” he said to her. “Go and play.”

Rin’s tremulous smile broadened into a toothy grin.

“Hai, Sesshoumaru-sama!” she said brightly, rising to her bare feet and padding toward the door, throwing one last affectionate glance back at her protector as she darted from the hut.

“That was incredibly sweet,” Kagome observed, smiling over at Sesshoumaru as Jakken gaped at her like she’d grown a second head.

“Aye,” Kaede agreed, the corners of her aged eyes crinkling. “It is very good of ye, Sesshoumaru-sama, to care for the child so.”

Sesshoumaru’s gaze flickered. “I suppose.”

“…Like his great power, milord’s generosity knows no bounds!” Jakken cried out in belated endorsement.

“Quiet, you,” Kagome snapped in annoyance, pelting the fawning imp with a soggy bean pod.

As he launched into a tirade about “wretched ningens,” the young priestess returned sulkily to her lunch. Out of the corner of her eye, she studied Sesshoumaru’s stoic profile. As happy as she was for Rin to have found his favor, she couldn’t help but be a little bit envious for herself.

  **xXxXxXx**

The girl was discontent, that much was apparent. Her shoulders were square and tense as she glared down into the bowl she held, the pace at which she was shoveling its contents into her mouth undeterred by her dismal mood. Sesshoumaru resented being attuned to her emotions as much as he resented being attracted to her physically, and so his attitude mirrored her own.

Staring into the hearth, he considered what she and the old woman had said.  _Good,_  perhaps he could concede, but how was it  _sweet_  to look after one of his own? Rin was his ward—a human child, true, and yet still she  _belonged_  to him. And did he not care for what belonged to him above all else?

This was not tenderness—not  _sweetness_ , as these soft-hearted mortals sought to romanticize it as. It was duty, and he carried it out to the utmost extent.

His eyes rested once more upon the girl— _Kagome_. Even in his thoughts, he was addressing her by name with increasing regularity, and the familiarity of it—the  _ease_  of it—was unsettling to say the least.

Once again, he found himself comparing her to Rin. Both human, both female—strong-spirited and sentimental. But with Rin he felt no tension. Instinctively, he knew that she was not a threat to him. The miko, on the other hand…

She threatened  _everything_.

“Um…would you like some?”

His gaze rose from her lips to her glittering eyes. “No.”

“Oh right,” she said, lowering the proffered bowl. “I forgot that you don’t eat ‘human food.’ What  _do_ you eat, then?”

“Meat,” he answered, returning his attention to the flames.

“Meat, huh? Well, I can pick out some chunks of chicken if you want—”

“Not cooked.” His eyes cut back to her. “ _Fresh_.”

Her face fell. “Oh.”

She seemed repulsed by the idea—as repulsed as  _he_  felt looking at the weak, broken-down scraps humans preferred to consume. Dry and bloodless flesh, robbed of its true potency and sustenance. It was no wonder her kind were so frail compared to youkai.

“But you must be hungry,” she said, frowning at him in concern.

He glanced away. In truth, he was ravenous—for food, least of all. Though why she should worry herself over this escaped him.

“Milord!” Jakken exclaimed, inserting himself between Sesshoumaru and the object of his more pressing appetite. “Allow this Jakken to procure your meal. I shall fell you a mighty stag!”

There were no stags within ten miles of this place. Still, a reprieve from his vassal was a welcome notion. His eyes closed briefly in agitation.

“See that you do,” he commanded.

As the imp scurried off on his fool’s errand, Sesshoumaru contemplated how to best address his true needs. Relieved though he was not to have succeeded in the attempt, he did not condemn himself for his actions the previous night. Even in the grips of fever, he had understood that this obsessive lust he harbored for the miko required an outlet.

It was a distraction, a deadly preoccupation that, indeed, had nearly cost him his life. It must be dealt with— _soon_.

He studied her fair face, lit by the glow of the hearth. She was beautiful, and for a human she was powerful. But she was no enchantress. Even as he looked at her, he could see the child in her still—bright and guileless, like his Rin. But she would never belong to him.

He would bed her. He would break her, and when he was finished, her hateful hold over him would be broken, at last.

Sesshoumaru stood, his stiff joints cracking at the motion. At once, the humans ceased their chatting, looking up at him in surprise as he strode past them to the door.

“Wait,” the girl said, her voice pitched with anxiety, “where are you going?”

“Out,” he replied flatly.

“But it’s cold out,” she protested. “You should stay indoors and rest.”

Ignoring her, he pushed past the curtain, a small smirk pulling at his lips as he sensed her stark frustration. The cold was of no consequence to one such as he. Rather, it was the oppressive company inside the hut which he could no longer bear.

Stepping out onto the porch, he breathed in deeply, hoping to cleanse her maddening scent from his lungs. There was no point in continuing to sit there, drowning in her presence, while the old woman was there to interfere.

Bringing a lock of his hair before him, he frowned at its stiff, matte texture, his clothing similarly unkempt. He knew of a stream nearby and set out for it, his legs feeling strong once again beneath him. In truth, with the departure of the fever, his strength had returned rapidly. Naraku’s shouki was more curse than poison, and once broken, its effects were easily remedied by his indomitable constitution.

_Another low, hanyou trick_ , he thought acidly.

And yet he had almost succumbed to it all the same. If anything ailed him, it was that knowledge. He had been thoughtless, careless—too wrapped up in that wretched girl.

But soon he would be free of her petty torments. Soon he would be  _himself_  again.

As the stream came into sight, he snagged an unsuspecting rabbit by the ears. Sitting cross-legged on the stony bank, he crushed its neck in his fist and began devouring it, fur and all. Red dripping strings of meat sheared off in his fangs, blood spilling hot and wet down the back of his throat. He crunched the larger bones and chewed the marrow, considering the rabbit’s wide, blue eyes for a moment before he ripped them out.

A neat, clean pile of bones lay beside him. Licking the last traces of blood from his claws, he slipped fully clothed into the icy stream. His hakama and loosened haori billowed about him in the current. Once they were washed through, he stripped off his heavy clothes and laid them out on the opposite bank to dry.

The chill of the water was bracing. Plunging briefly beneath the surface, he began to unravel the tangle of his hair, until the long strands ran through his fingers like silk once again. Satisfied with the effort, he leaned back against the smooth surface of a submerged boulder, the stream flowing briskly around his hips.

With nothing to distract him, his thoughts returned inevitably to the girl. Lashes descending, he remembered the flush on her cheeks, the glaze of desire in her eyes as she recounted the events of the night before. He remembered the radiant feel of her heat against his fingers, the heady fragrance of her arousal, the heaving swell of her breasts. His groin ached at the memory, his hand lowering to soothe it.

As he clenched his fist around his thickening length, he envisioned that pale, taunting slip of her skin beneath her shirt, as she exposed herself to him at his command. In his mind, the exposure continued, his grip sliding fast and hard as he imagined her creamy breasts spilling out before his view, the mark he had left upon her darkening her fair complexion.

He could feel his release coming upon him as a branch snapped at the edge of the trees, his eyes snapping open to find her standing there with a basket clutched to her chest, staring at him in apprehension.

“S-sorry…” she whispered, retreating a step. “I…I’ll just be going now…”

His hardness waned as every muscle in him tensed, poised to spring. Now that she was here, he should put her to use. Against a tree, against the ground, against the rock behind him. Perhaps all three.

Just as the heel of his foot lifted from the stream bed, he sensed another presence approaching from behind her. A ragged snarl tore from his lips, the girl’s eyes flaring wide at the sound.

“Hm? What is it, child?”

Drawing up beside her with a similar basket in hand, the old woman blinked slowly at the sight of him. Sesshoumaru resisted the impulse to gut her alive.

“Oh, my,” she spoke, her lone eye roving over him in unhurried appraisal. “Sesshoumaru-sama…”

His fangs clenched audibly, his curled claws biting into his palms. Not oblivious to his ire, the girl butted the elder miko with her shoulder, the motion fraught with tension.

“Baa-chan—let’s…let’s go a little further upstream to do the washing,” she said in an urgent plea, beginning to shove the old woman onward.

“Aye,” the crone muttered, keeping her eyes fixed upon him until the last possible moment.

With one final, frantic glance of apology, the girl disappeared through the thick trees. As her aura faded, he splashed angrily toward the bank, nearly shredding his clothes as he ripped them back over his dripping flesh. Breathing heavily through his distemper, he sank down onto a sun-drenched slab of stone, eyes flashing red as his hand shot down into a crack in the rock, extracting Myouga the Flea.

“Se-Sesshoumaru-sama!” the tiny youkai squeaked in terror, hanging suspended between Sesshoumaru’s pinched claws. “W-what a pleasant surprise…”

“You dare to spy on this Sesshoumaru,” he growled, the flea’s eyes bulging as he tightened his grip.

“S-spy? Never, my lord!”

“Why are you here?” he demanded.

“To pay my respects,” the flea answered, bowing his head, “to your departed brother. When I heard that he had perished, I set out at once. But as you know…travel can be slow for a lowly flea such as myself. Eh heh.”

Sesshoumaru’s gaze narrowed. “Naraku’s scourge is ever-increasing. You have come to seek sanctuary with this Sesshoumaru.”

“Ah!” the flea exclaimed, his eyes shifting nervously. “Well, there  _was_  that as well…”

“Tell me, Myouga,” Sesshoumaru said, his voice pitching dangerously low. “Do you wish to live?”

“A-aye, my lord—above all else! I-if I may be so bold as to say it…”

“My armor is in disrepair. My sword, Tokijin, was destroyed in battle, and Tessaiga, which I have inherited, is even more useless to me than you are.”

“S-so you say…” Myouga whimpered, staring up at him in bleak confusion.

“Bring me Toutousai,” he ordered. “And perhaps I shall suffer you to live beneath my protection.”

The flea shot from his squeezing fingers, pinging along the bank in a series of bounces. Dazed, the minute youkai righted himself with a shake of his head, all six limbs bending toward Sesshoumaru in the deepest of bows.

“Certainly, my lord! I will bring him here with all haste.”

“That would be wise,” Sesshoumaru intoned. “Now,  _go_.”

Myouga took off at once, his youki fading from the back of a departing sparrow a few minutes later.

At least if nothing else, the Lord of the Western Lands reflected sourly, he had attended to his defenses.

  **xXxXxXx**

It was late in the afternoon when he found the girl again.

Perched atop a knoll outside the village, she gazed out at the snow-flecked horizon. Her breath rose in a fine mist before her, winter sunlight gilding the dark waving fall of her hair. Beside her in the dead grass, the horse youkai from the cliffside lay, the heat of his body contained so as not to ignite the dry, brittle foliage around them.

As Sesshoumaru drew to a stop behind her, she reached into the yellow sack at her other hip, withdrawing a small paper pouch. Shaking it between her fingers, she tore it open and spilled a quantity of glittering sugar crystals into her outstretched palm, which the demon horse licked away at once.

“Enjoy it while it lasts,” he heard her say with a gloomy sigh, finally catching sight of him out of the corner of her eye. “Oh, Sesshoumaru,” she said, straightening. “Did you need something?”

_Need_ , he repeated inwardly, answering her with a flat stare. Truly, the girl had a knack for being frustratingly obtuse.

“We were interrupted earlier,” he said, stepping close to her. “Or have you forgotten?”

A fetching blush rose high on her cheeks. “No, I haven’t forgotten. But, listen, Sesshoumaru…there’s something I wanted to discuss with you.”

He peered down at her steadily. “What is it?”

“I think we need to cool things off—at least…at least for now.”

Sesshoumaru drew in a measured breath. Her phrasing was curious as always, but he understood her meaning.

“You are afraid,” he assumed.

“No! I mean…well, I am  _a_   _little_  because I’ve never—” Her blush deepened. “A-anyway, I think until Naraku and whoever else is defeated, we need to keep things professional.” She frowned at him in contrition. “We can’t really afford to be distracted right now. Wouldn’t you say?”

He considered her shrewdly. At least she conceded that she was a distraction to him—that was mollifying to a degree. And he did not sense that she was subtly challenging him, or attempting to play coy. No, the look in her eyes was calm and sincere. She wanted him still, that much he could tell from the thrum of her pulse—but she was choosing to refrain.

If a naive mortal girl could exercise such restraint, surely he could as well. Sesshoumaru inclined his head.

“Very well.”

Her posture relaxed as she flashed him a smile. He felt the warmth of it like a ray of sun.

“Great,” she said, combing her gleaming hair back with her fingers.

His eyes fell briefly to the mark on her neck before shifting toward her youkai companion. Slowly, he circled around the fire horse, its red eyes meeting his evenly.

“What is your name?” Sesshoumaru asked.

“Entei,” the miko answered in the horse’s stead. “Actually, I’ve been wanting to ask you—can you tell me why he’s been following me around? Not that I mind, I’m just curious, is all.”

Sesshoumaru studied the creature before him. This was an ancient beast—a relic from before his father’s time. Even he had difficulty understanding its language, which ebbed and flowed like a breath of wind.

“When you defeated Hakudoushi, he claimed you as his Rider,” the daiyoukai said, after a moment of concentration. “He will remain with you until you are bested in battle, or depart with you into the netherworld upon your natural death.”

“Wow.” The miko blinked, staring at the reclining youkai in admiration. “ _Claimed_ , huh? I told Kaede-baa-chan that he was my horse—but really, it’s more like  _I’m_  his human.”

Sesshoumaru looked at her askance. She seemed  _pleased_  by the idea.

A curious girl, indeed.

  **xXxXxXx**

As daylight waned, Kagome, Sesshoumaru and Entei struck out for the twilit village. Glancing sidelong at the impassive demon lord, she was glad to see that he was more or less back to his former intimidating self. Youkai genetics were truly a remarkable thing.

As if to reinforce the notion, her injured limb gave an angry twinge no matter how gingerly she attempted to readjust the straps of her backpack. Frowning, Kagome wondered how much longer her bow-arm would be out of commission. Though everything seemed peaceful enough at the moment, years of youkai surprise attacks had made the young miko understandably paranoid. With Miroku and Sango still recovering from their own injuries, she couldn’t help but worry about the state of Edo’s defenses—especially when she and Sesshoumaru had gigantic targets on their backs.

Mouryoumaru’s parting words to her had been no empty threat—of that, Kagome was certain. And by now, no matter where he was lurking, Naraku would surely have been informed of her return, by Kagura if nothing else. Shikon no Tama aside, as long as Kikyou’s soul walked the earth, Naraku would never let her rest. Kagome could only guess at what twisted schemes he was hatching at this very moment. Whatever it was, she knew she couldn’t afford to sit idly by—she needed to come up with a strategy.

Looking at Sesshoumaru again, Kagome drew comfort from his presence. It had been a crazy plan—and an even crazier risk—bringing him over to their side. But regardless of the personal cost, she was thankful she’d been able to win his allegiance. If they were going to defeat Naraku, they needed him.  _She_  needed him.

Faintly reflective, his golden eyes slanted toward her, catching her mid-stare. “What is it?”

“N-nothing!” she stammered, tearing away from him with a blush.

They walked on a little more in awkward silence. At the outskirts of town, a small, but sturdily-built structure came into view. Kagome paused beside it.

“Well,” she announced, fidgeting with her backpack straps again, “here’s my stop.”

Sesshoumaru sniffed. “It reeks of Inuyasha.”

Kagome grimaced. She’d spent a fair part of her afternoon cleaning out the place. Not well enough, though, it seemed—judging by his tight expression.

“Er, well, he did use to live here, with Kikyou…but it’s a nice house, and I needed somewhere to stay.” Biting her lip, Kagome dug the toe of her boot into the dirt, the tension weighing on her like a heavy quilt. “So…I guess this is goodnight, then.”

With one last inscrutable glance, he turned, disappearing wordlessly into the gathering darkness. Kagome released a pent-up breath, clambering wearily up the porch steps.

Perhaps the best thing about this house was that the doorway was wide enough for Entei to pass through. The clack of his hooves followed her across the threshold, the horse settling down beside the hearth as Kagome knelt to rebuild it, a spark from his fiery tail accelerating the process. As the flames rose to a cheery blaze, she cast him a grateful smile. It was nice, not to be so totally alone.

She had considered asking Sango if she could stay with her and the kids but ultimately had decided against it. Though things were better between she and the taijiya now than they had been before, Kagome didn’t want to push it.

After a light dinner of dried meat and some of Kaede’s jaw-breaking rice crackers, the young miko changed into a t-shirt and pajama pants and laid her bedroll out across the planked wood floor. Exhausted as she was, she slipped with difficulty into a restless, dream-filled sleep. Sesshoumaru was the prime subject, of course. In her dreams, she watched him push past the door of the hut, in blatant disregard of their earlier agreement, his glinting eyes intent upon her as he closed the short distance between them…

Sweating, Kagome awoke, her heart throbbing—her lower half, as well. Blearily, breathlessly, she sat up on her elbows, staring ahead as her sleep-fogged mind registered the approach of a familiar youki signature.

As her thoughts began to clear, the reed door cracked open, and a little round face peeked through.

“Kagome-chan,” Shippou asked shyly, “can I sleep with you tonight?”

Kagome relaxed— _outwardly_ , at least—smiling at him warmly. “Of course, you can, Shippou-chan.”

The fox-kit pattered over, snuggling at once into the crook of Kagome’s arm. Stroking his cheek, she lay down on her side, curled slightly around him—berating herself for the sliver of lingering disappointment she felt.

After a brief few hours of sleep, Kagome awoke at dawn, feeling surprisingly refreshed. Sometime in the night, the fire had gone out, but she and Shippou were still comfortably warm, snuggled against Entei’s toasty flank.

Yawning, she sat up and stretched, Shippou doing the same, one tiny clawed fist rubbing across his eyes.

“What’s for breakfast?” he asked Kagome groggily, tugging on her sleeve.

“Hm, jerky, I guess,” she said, handing him a strip from her backpack. “I’m running a little low on supplies at the moment.”

“You should ask Sango-chan for some stuff,” the fox-kit suggested, his small sharp fangs ripping off a chunk of the tough meat with relish. “She’s got food for days.”

Kagome glanced away. “Yeah, maybe…”

Shippou frowned. “She’s still mad at you, huh?”

The young miko sighed. “I don’t think she’s mad, exactly. Just…disappointed.”

“Well, we were all sad and hurt when you left. But now you’re back,” the fox-kit stated matter-of-factly, “and that’s what matters.”

Kagome smiled slightly. She wanted more than anything to believe that what he said was true. But she knew it would take time for her to rebuild the trust she had broken.

As they finished breakfast, Kagome gathered up her soaps and shampoos and set off with Shippou for the bathhouse—despite his continued protests. Why kids—demon  _and_  human—seemed to hate bathtime so much would never cease to amaze her. Personally, she liked starting off the day with a clean slate, so to speak.

“I’m just going to get dirty again,” he grumbled, trudging up the steps behind her.

“Yeah, but would you rather be dirty, or  _super_   _dirty_? Anyway…I’m sure Rin-chan would appreciate it if you smelled nice,” Kagome ventured, glancing back at him over her shoulder.

Shippou blushed, ducking his head with a defeated sigh. “Fiiiine.”

The moment he and Kagome entered the bathhouse, she discovered that they were not alone. Reclining against the far edge, sling held aloft above the steamy surface, Miroku greeted them with a wave, the dark water thankfully obscuring him below the chest.

“Ah, Kagome-sama,” he murmured, violet eyes glittering suggestively. “ _Welcome_.”

Shippou and Kagome exchanged a  _look_. Promptly reversing, they let the door shut behind them with a decisive  _thwack_. Shaking her head, she descended the steps with the fox-kit in tow. So much for that. Miroku’s right arm might be injured, but one good groping hand was more than enough for a lecher like him.

“You know,” Kagome began, tapping a finger to her chin, “I think there might be an onsen not too far away…”

“Yeah,” Shippou nodded, nose wrinkling as he sniffed himself discreetly. “Let’s go.”

Following his lead, they headed south. A little ways into the forest, the distinctive sight of curling steam came into view.

“ _Hurray!_ ” the two of them exclaimed, sprinting toward it.

Practically tearing off his clothes, the fox-kit cannonballed into the bubbling spring. Laughing, Kagome disrobed with a little more restraint, sinking into the hot water with a sigh. After washing her hair and skin, and eventually persuading Shippou to do the same, she leaned back against the granite ledge, smiling as she watched him splash around.

She felt a prickle of unease not having her bow with her, but they were close to the village, and in her current condition, she didn’t see what good it would do to have it on her anyway. With his fox-fire and prior battle experience, Shippou was more than capable of defending them against ordinary demons—and typically, the really nasty ones only came out at night.

As her muscles relaxed into putty, Shippou floated over. Settling into her embrace, he started to doze off, Kagome’s eyes drifting shut as well before the sound of a faint  _pop_  in front of her had them blinking open again.

A pair of bulbous demonic eyes stared into her own.

“ _KYAAAAAAAH!_ ” the young miko screamed as she bolted upright, her hand connecting solidly with the whiskered face looming before her.

“Eh?” The elderly demon winced, rubbing his wrinkled jowl. “Kagome, was it?”

“Ah,” she said sheepishly, lowering her stinging palm. “Toutousai.”  A moment later, her hand rose again, smacking the side of her neck. A tiny flattened form fluttered down into the spring. “And Myouga-jii, too.”

“Hey!” Shippou shouted, flaring angrily at Kagome’s side. “What the hell were you two thinking, surprising us like that?! You shameless, hentai geezers!”

“Calm yourself, Master Shippou,” Myouga chuckled nervously as he edged out of the literal line of fire, crouching behind Kagome’s shoulder. “We meant you no harm…”

“Hm, but where is Sesshoumaru?” Toutousai remarked, scratching his ear as he leaned back atop his three-eyed cow, folding his arms into his striped sleeves. “I don’t detect his youki, but Mo-Mo’s sense of direction is never wrong.”

“Eh?” Kagome squeaked, her whole face reddening as the cow lowed in affirmation. “Sesshoumaru is—”

Jumping up from the spring, she had just enough time to wrench her folded towel around her before the daiyoukai strode into the clearing, his golden eyes skimming over her for a moment before resting coldly on the demon smith.


	14. Chapter Fourteen

**Chapter Fourteen**

“Toutousai,” Sesshoumaru intoned. “I see you have answered my summons.”

“Indeed I have,” the old smith returned, muttering dryly aside, “not that I had much choice in the matter.” Turning back to the daiyoukai, he pointed his long-handled hammer at him. “So, you’re in need of repairs, eh? I’ll not touch that infernal Tokijin, if that’s what you’re angling for.”

Sesshoumaru’s eyes flashed. “Tokijin is no more.”

“Ah,” Toutousai said, relaxing. “Good, good. It was an abomination, you know.”

“So you say,” the demon lord replied, in a tone Kagome recognized as particularly dangerous. “But I did not summon you here for your opinions. You will repair my armor and forge me a new sword, worthy of this Sesshoumaru.”

Toutousaid paled, looking queasy.

“New sword?” Kagome asked with a frown, pulling her towel up a little higher over her damp chest. “But, what about Tessaiga?”

As his cool gaze rested upon her, she thought back to the battle on the mountain. Sesshoumaru must have transformed after Tokijin was broken, which meant…

The young miko’s eyes widened at him in comprehension. “You…you still can’t wield Tessaiga, can you?”

Around them, the temperature seemed to drop a few more degrees. Myouga, Toutousai, and even Shippou were all backing away from her in trepidation. Eyes hard, Sesshoumaru turned, setting a course for the village.

“Come,” he commanded, the miko’s skin prickling at his frosty tone.

As Toutousai and his bovine steed cantered reluctantly after the demon lord, Kagome and Shippou hung back to dress. Politely, Myouga averted his gaze.

“That was a close one,” the flea exhaled in relief.

“Yeah, no kidding,” Shippou said under his breath, his expression positively vulpine as he glanced over at his adopted mom. “Sesshoumaru must  _really_  like you, Kagome-chan.”

Kagome tensed, the shampoo bottle in her hand slipping into the hot spring with a splash. “ _Like_  me? No way.”

As she fished the bottle out, Myouga hopped up onto her shoulder, peering at her through squinty eyes.

“The young lad speaks true,” the flea youkai said, one hand braced beneath his chin. “I have seen Sesshoumaru-sama strike down many a man for far less than that. He must esteem you greatly.”

Kagome shook her head. “Trust me, you guys—nothing could be further from the truth. But he’s here fighting on our side, and that’s what’s important.”

Hesitantly, Myouga nodded. “As you say…”

His inquisitive stare remained upon her all the way back to the village. A small crowd had gathered around as Toutousai set up a makeshift forge outside of Kaede’s hut. Fire streamed from his puffed cheeks as he hammered away at Sesshoumaru’s armor atop an anvil he’d scrounged up from Kami-knows-where. Reclining against the wall of the hut, Sesshoumaru supervised, golden eyes flicking toward her as she approached.

“Looks like he’s really going at it,” Kagome said, crossing her arms over her jacketed chest as she stood beside him on the porch.

“An admirable display of skill,” Miroku remarked wryly from the steps. “One would almost suspect that his life depended on it.”

Next to him, Sango hid a smile behind her gloved hand. Kagome struggled to suppress her grin as well, watching another drop of sweat bead on Toutousai’s forehead every time he snuck a panicked glance at Sesshoumaru.

A while later, as the youkai smith was putting the finishing touches on the armor, Kagome sighed, turning toward the daiyoukai. “I guess he’ll be making your new sword next, then.”

Toutousai froze, his breath of flame sputtering to smoke as he looked toward them. “About that…” He shrank in upon himself. “Can’t be done, I’m afraid.”

“Huh?” Kagome blinked.

By the time she opened her eyes again, Sesshoumaru had Toutousai by the collar, his poison claws wreaking even more havoc on the old smith’s frayed kimono. Gasping in shock, the onlookers withdrew, Miroku and Sango tensing warily.

“ _Yowww!_ ” Toutousai yelped, his pinprick pupils spinning wildly as the daiyoukai tightened his hold. “Threaten me all you like—there’s nothing for it! Your fangs are too caustic for swordmaking. The blade would be unstable at best.”

Sesshoumaru released him in disdain, a ribbon of youki spooling from his claws. “Then you are of no further use to me.”

“Sesshoumaru,  _wait!_ ” Kagome cried, throwing herself between the demon lord and the cowering smith.

“Stand aside,” the daiyoukai said lowly.

Swallowing a little, Kagome stood her ground. “He fixed your armor for you, didn’t he? And maybe…” she paused, grasping at straws. “…Maybe Toutousai has another suggestion?”

“Well,” the old smith said hopefully, rubbing his singed neck, “if we could dig up some of  _Inuyasha’s_ fangs and restore them with Tenseiga…”

He trailed off at Sesshoumaru’s murderous glare.

Kagome frowned. “Inuyasha’s remains were cremated, Toutousai.”

“Ah, a pity.” The old swordsmith shook his head, his moustaches drooping. “Then, only one choice remains…but it’s a gamble.”

Looking askance at Kagome, Toutousai stroked his goatee in thought. She had a moment to question before his hammer ignited above her, swinging down at her in a fiery arc—

Only to clash against the blazing, transformed edge of Tessaiga.

Kagome stumbled back with a gasp. Before her, Sesshoumaru stood, the sword in his hand still locked with Toutousai’s hammer and glowing so bright it was almost gold. He stared down at Tessaiga’s true form, an expression of rare surprise showing on his normally stoic face.

“Kagome-chan!” Shippou cried as he sprinted toward her, Sango and Miroku hurrying after in his wake. “Are you all right?”

“I’m okay, Shippou-chan,” Kagome replied absently as he leapt up into her arms, her attention still riveted on the scene before her.

_Sesshoumaru…_  her reeling mind processed in a bittersweet mix of amazement and joy and sadness.  _Sesshoumaru is wielding Inuyasha’s sword..._

“Aha!” Toutousai proclaimed in triumph, his hammer returning to rest on his shoulder as Tessaiga changed back into its usual rusty self. “My suspicions were correct.”

“Suspicions?” Kagome said, her awe dissipating as her eyes cut to him hotly. “You mean you pulled that stunt just now on a  _hunch_?”

Scratching his bald spot with a knobbly claw, the old swordsmith blinked. “Well, I  _did_  say it was a gamble…”

A vein throbbed in Kagome’s temple. “ _You_ …” Stepping forward, she ripped the hammer from his grasp, bringing it down hard on his even harder head. “You BAKA!  _You don’t get to gamble with my life!_ ”

“…Under…understood,” Toutousai wheezed up at her from the ground, massaging the enormous knot rising from his scalp.

“You know,” Miroku said darkly, letting his staff fall beside the knot with a heavy clang, “my shakujou has been looking a bit worn as of late. Why don’t you see to it?”

“Hiraikotsu, as well,” Sango joined, her mouth a thin line as another welt rose up beneath the edge of her dropped boomerang.

Taking their actions as a cue, the rest of the villagers happily descended on Toutousai in turn, soon burying him beneath a pile of chipped axe-heads, dull knives, and gap-toothed rakes. Excavating himself with a splutter, he looked desperately toward Sesshoumaru.

“Do as they say,” the daiyoukai ordered, crushing the old smith’s hopes with characteristic ruthlessness.

Still studying Tessaiga’s battered blade, Sesshoumaru turned and walked away a few paces. After relinquishing her appropriation of Toutousai’s hammer, Kagome approached him.

“During the battle on the mountain, Tessaiga didn’t respond,” she said, glancing up at him. “What was different, this time?”

His gaze met hers intently. Kagome blushed as Myouga cleared his throat.

“If I may,” the flea began ceremoniously from atop her shoulder, “Tessaiga was forged by the Inu no Taishou in order to safeguard human life. By choosing to engage in battle with Mouryoumaru instead of protecting his human companions, Sesshoumaru-sama rendered Tessaiga effectively useless. Yet, just now, when he wielded the blade with the sole intent of defending  _you_ , Kagome-sama, Tessaiga responded at once!”

“Ah,” Kagome said as Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes at his father’s former vassal, “now I remember! Inuyasha wasn’t able to properly wield Tessaiga, either, until he made up his mind that he was going to use it to protect me.”

“Precisely.” Myouga nodded, smiling in satisfaction.

“But wait…” Kagome muttered, her eyes narrowing as well as she plucked the smug flea from his perch. “How did  _you_  know Sesshoumaru was too busy fighting with Mouryoumaru to come to our rescue?”

“Because he was there,” Sesshoumaru answered coolly, sheathing Tessaiga with a metallic snap, “spying.”

“Is that so?” Kagome said through gritted teeth, the quailing flea squishing to a ball between her thumb and forefinger. “How was the show, Myouga-jii? Couldn’t have been bothered to help us out, I don’t suppose?”

“Ka-Kagome-sama,” Myouga stuttered, “I can assure you I would have intervened if I thought I could be of assistance!”

“Yeah, right,” Kagome scoffed, pinching him flat. Her hands went to her hips in true lecture stance as she watched him waft toward the ground. “You were just there to hedge your bets, you coward.”

Still fuming, she looked up in surprise as Sesshoumaru grasped her by the elbow.

“Your wound,” he said, her heart skipping a beat or two at the low rumble in his voice. “It is bleeding again.”

Kagome stripped off her leather jacket with a wince. Sure enough, the bandage on her left arm was spotted with red. She must have overexerted herself, attempting to crack open Toutousai’s thick skull.

“Great,” she sighed, meeting his gaze again.

He was still holding her arm, his eyes studying her face with the same rapt interest he’d bestowed on his sword. Kagome shivered beneath the intensity of it, though to all outward appearances the chilly air could be to blame.

As his lips parted to speak, a familiar wail rang out from the forest’s edge. Sesshoumaru’s jaw clenched as his hand fell away. Feeling her blood pressure already beginning to spike, Kagome turned with him in the direction of the sound.

“ _Miiiiilord!_ ” Jakken cried, dragging behind him by rope what appeared to be a huge, dead deer. “This Jakken has brought you the Prince of Stags!”

“You’ve been hunting this whole time?” Kagome said incredulously, the imp casting her a sallow glare as he drew to a stop before his lord.

Loftily, Sesshoumaru sniffed the air. “The blood has thickened.” Turning on his heel, he flicked his pelt dismissively over his shoulder. “Feed it to the humans.”

As Jakken’s eyes welled with tears, Kagome clasped her hands together excitedly, turning back toward her friends.

“Hey, guys—looks like we’re having venison tonight!”

**xXxXxXx**

The next few days passed in utter boredom for Kagome. After reopening her wound, Kaede had made it her personal mission to be on the younger miko’s case about not straining her arm, and so she was forced to idle about and try to amuse herself as best she could without doing any sort of strenuous physical activity. Training was out, of course, but under the circumstances Granny Kaede had extended the meaning of “strenuous” pretty broadly, enlisting Rin and Shippou to help her with her daily chores instead.

Kagome couldn’t remember the last time she’d actively  _wanted_  to do laundry or scour pots, but it beat the heck out of just sitting around doing nothing. Back in the old days, she would have killed for this kind of free time to spend on her studies. Just the thought of poring over her notes and textbooks and various academic subjects felt like a dream now.

_Well_ , Kagome reflected,  _maybe not_ Algebra _…_

She didn’t want to bother Miroku and Sango—they had their own recoveries and apparently their own tasks to attend to around the village. Shippou and Rin were preoccupied, of course—either helping the older miko or playing with the other village children and Ah-Un. Even Entei had better things to do, his fiery mane bent low as he grazed with Mo-Mo at the edge of the woods.

And Sesshoumaru was a lost cause. When he wasn’t spacing out staring at Tessaiga, he was spacing out staring at nothing. She’d tried a few times to engage him, but he clearly wasn’t in the mood. A couple of icy glares at interrupting his meditations, and even  _she_  knew when to throw in the towel.

So she’d settled for watching Toutousai work his way through the mountain of free commissions he’d been forced to undertake. After the seventh or eighth knife sharpening, though, they really all started to look the same. The only other being around who seemed as stir-crazy as herself was Jakken, who’d taken to running to and fro, fetching water or whatever else Toutousai needed to complete his smithing duties. Reluctant as she was to give Jakken any credit, the busybody imp  _did_ seem to have the good common sense not to annoy Sesshoumaru right now.

More than a little jealous of Jakken’s industriousness—and more than a little irked by this knowledge—Kagome found herself going out of her way to pick fights with him. It was petty, of course. But it was also easy. And it gave her something to pass the time.

“Will there be anything else, Master Toutousai?” Jakken asked, setting down a brace of buckets at the swordsmith’s side.

“No, no,” Toutousai grumbled with an irritated wave. “Leave me be!”

“Yes, Master,” the imp said glumly, sinking down onto a nearby rock.

“You can fetch  _me_  some water, if you don’t have anything better to do,” Kagome suggested dryly.

Jakken sprang to his feet at once, predictably outraged. “Fetch it yourself, wench! This Jakken does not take orders from mere humans.”

“Now, let’s see,” Kagome said, her eyes squinting in feigned concentration. “Your ‘master’ over there is taking orders from humans. So, by the transitive property, that means you are, too.”

“Tr-‘transitive’…?—what nonsense are you saying?!” the imp spluttered, looking for all the world like an angry, animate pickle. “Speak plainly or not at all, mortal scum!”

Kagome rolled her eyes. “Okay, I’ll spell it out for you: if  _you_  are serving Toutousai, and  _Toutousai_  is serving humans, then that means  _you_  are essentially serving humans, too.”

“Ridiculous!” Jakken seethed, a big oily drop of sweat breaking out on his brow nonetheless. “Your twisted mind games will not work on me, miko!”

Said miko sighed, rising to her feet. “...I give up.”

_Maybe a walk would do me some good_ , Kagome told herself for the fifth time that day. But instead of just ambling around the village, she made for the forest instead. She might find something of interest there—like a tree with patterns in its bark, or a particularly colorful rock.

Mustering as much enthusiasm as she could for these exciting discoveries to come, she ventured past the treeline. Most villagers didn’t traverse this part of the woods. A distinct magical energy hung over the place. The trees were older and more secret, their shadows longer than those of their younger counterparts. But having actually gone up against real monsters, mikos like Kagome and Kaede weren’t quite so superstitious. Though eerie, there wasn’t anything malicious about this spot.

Drawing up beside the stream, she recollected that this was the place, too, where they’d caught Sesshoumaru bathing the other day. Lying down on a sun-warmed stretch of stone, Kagome remembered how the water had glinted from his chiseled chest, his beautiful silver hair streaming in dark gleaming rivulets down his shoulders and back. His right arm had been extended just before him, the muscles flexed and taut—and she knew exactly what it was he’d been doing before they’d arrived.

The thought sent a little thrill through her, her hand slipping beneath the waistband of her jeans seemingly of its own accord. Though she hadn’t been able to see anything below the rippling surface of the stream, she’d noticed how large the angle was from his arm to his body and couldn’t help but think that the gossip she’d once overheard about youkai size wasn’t such a rumor, after all. Imagining those strong, elegant fingers wrapped around his hard length had Kagome opening her legs a little wider. The stricture of her jeans felt unexpectedly good against her sensitized flesh—as she slid her fingers down through her soft thatch of curls, finding the little nub that was aching to be touched.

She was halfway gone when she felt a cool shadow fall over her.

Blinking open her eyes, she froze in shock as Sesshoumaru’s dark gold gaze skewered her where she lay. Her hand was still down her pants, fingers curled around her soaking mound. She itched to withdraw it, but the idea of being caught wet-handed seemed somehow even more embarrassing than her current state.

Scarcely breathing, she could only stare as his simmering eyes slid down the length of her body, resting for a moment between her spread legs before returning to her flushed face.

“Keep going,” he commanded.

Still more or less paralyzed, Kagome watched as Sesshoumaru sank down beside her. Clawed fingers descended to the ties of his hakama, loosening them before her eyes. When his hand disappeared beneath the parted silk, she felt her paralysis begin to lift, her damp fingers twitching against her swollen, needy skin.

“That’s what you were doing the other day, wasn’t it?” she murmured, her neck craning to catch sight of him through the opening of his pants.

“Yes,” he said, giving her no more than a glimpse of his striped wrist as it rose and fell with his slow, steady strokes. His voice was lower and rougher than usual, but his tone left no room to be questioned. “Touch yourself now. I want to see.”

Belatedly, she realized it was his left hand he was stroking himself with. Even before his amputation, Kagome was pretty sure he’d favored his right. A stray, dirty thought crossed her mind—something that Yuka had once mentioned, about how guys would sometimes use their less dominant hand because it felt more like someone else’s. Aroused by this thought, her own hand resumed its course, the pads of her fingers slipping and swirling with increasing fluidity as she imagined him imagining her.

She could see the outline of him now, his erection rising through the silk—straining the fabric as he continued to grow beneath his fierce attentions. Her eyes widened, her breath and motions quickening at the sheer size of him. She couldn’t imagine fitting him inside her—the idea of even  _attempting_  to was frightening and erotic all at once.

“There’s no way,” she whispered.

“No way of what?” he faintly growled, his sharp eyes fastened on the shape of her roving fingers, the flex of her tendons beneath the delicate skin of her wrist.

“No way you’ll fit,” she said, the words coming out as little more than a whimper.

And now his piercing gaze was locked with hers, the assurance in it setting her sizzling nerves ablaze.

“I will.”

Her breath hitched, her left hand scrambling awkwardly to unfasten and tug down her jeans. The air was warmer today, but still unquestionably cool as it hit her bare thighs, her already hard nipples threatening to bore through her sweater. But she needed the space to move. She needed to have her fingers inside her—she needed to have  _something_  inside her, or else she felt certain she would die right there on the spot.

Freed from the confines of her jeans, she reached down with her slick right hand, the crotch of her panties stretching out as her hand pulled back, delving two fingers into her drenched, aching heat. Her back bowed at the bliss of penetration, Sesshoumaru’s expression darkening ferally at the sight. His breath was coming quicker now, his posture tensed as if poised to strike. Red crept steadily into his eyes, the normally smooth stripes on his face growing jagged and wide.

His hand worked furiously over his clothed length, Kagome’s fingers striving to keep pace. Her walls fluttered, her stomach drawing taut as that familiar pressure built within her, heightening the pleasure of each sensation—when, suddenly, she felt her wrist being ripped away, her cry of protest transforming abruptly as Sesshoumaru’s touch replaced her own.

“Do you see what you reduce me to?” he thundered, his fingers curving within her as they plunged. “ _Do you_ see _, Kagome?_ ”

The sound of him speaking her name arrested her as ever, her misty blue eyes striving to focus beyond the way he was so perfectly plundering her sex. She watched him—still relentlessly stoking his own pleasure, as much on the verge of unraveling from it as she was herself. In this state of vulnerability, he revealed himself to her, and she could see how much he desired her and how much he resented himself for it. He was in torment because of  _her_ , and her heart ached for him as much as her body.

“I see,” she said softly, her damp fingers dipping beneath the loosened hem of his hakama, gliding lightly over the smooth, burning base of his shaft.

His jaw clenched even as his eyes melted with pleasure, a ragged groan catching deep in his throat. Hot fluid trailed down to her hand as she convulsed at last around his buried fingers, losing herself along with him.

She felt so keenly empty as his hand withdrew, a small gasp escaping her as he gripped her wetly by the chin. His eyes glared into hers—gold once more, but no less ferocious.

“What you felt just now,” he said to her lowly, heavily, “was  _nothing_.”

He rose, vanishing in a flash of white. Bonelessly, Kagome fell back against the rock, her mind and body still reeling in the aftermath of her release. There was a promise in those parting words of his, and she trembled even now, anticipating their fulfillment.

**xXxXxXx**

Days later, Sesshoumaru could still smell her on his skin, feel her phantom touch caressing him beneath his clothes.

He was as mad for her as he had ever been, perhaps more. What had sated him in the moment had left him ravaged with want in the wake of it. Restlessly, he prowled his territories, striking down man and demon alike for the slightest offenses, projecting her face onto those of his victims, until his blood cooled and his rage dimmed—settling at last into a deep, brooding shame.

It was not her fault, he conceded. He should have let her be, that day in the woods. But he had pressed her—had pressed them both. She was far from blameless, but in this she was exempt. He accepted responsibility for what had taken place between them, reluctant though he was to acknowledge it, even to himself.

What shamed him more than his loss of restraint was the outcome of it. Instead of just taking the girl, he had merely assisted her. His focus, he realized, had been on  _her_  pleasure—not his own. This realization was as debasing as the acts of self-release he had resorted to engaging in since crossing paths with her.

Even now as he remembered the tight wet clutch of her sex, the parting of her rosy lips, the sheen of desire in her azure eyes, his claws itched to close around his stiffening length. It was beneath him to attend to himself in this way. Only those too weak to secure a female needed to seek relief in such a manner. He was a daiyoukai—the Lord of the Western Lands. To satisfy his urges, he needed only to choose.

A demon bitch was eyeing him at this very moment. They always were—and always before, he had used them as he saw fit. His eyes snapped to her, and she tensed warily. This one was attractive enough, he supposed. Dark lustrous hair, porcelain skin, curvaceous figure—her lips were too red, and her eyes were as well, but she would suffice.

In an instant he was upon her, forcing her to the ground on her knees. There was no need to hold back his strength, and his claws scored her thighs as he ripped away the silvery fabric of her kimono, baring her to his view. She hissed in feigned protest, glancing back at him slyly as she raised her hips.

His eyes narrowed as he shoved her head down again. “Keep your face from my sight.”

With a huff, she submitted, spreading herself for him with two long crimson nails. He knocked her hand aside, not needing this superfluous display. Without preamble, he wrenched himself free, the raised plate of his armor grating against her back as he sheathed himself inside her.

She moaned in an obvious parody of pleasure, Sesshoumaru’s lips thinning at the sound. He could smell her blood in the air, little more than it slickening his course as he began to move within her.

“Oh, Sesshoumaru-sama,” she simpered, “it feels so good…”

“Be silent,” he growled, “or I will tear out your tongue.”

Sulkily, she obeyed, though even her helpless whimpers at his increasing speed grated on his patience. Her voice was wrong. Her scent was wrong. But most wrong of all was how she  _felt_ —her skin was not as soft, her body not as warm, her grip around him not nearly as satisfying as Kagome’s.

_Kagome…_

Just the thought of her was more alluring than anything this demoness had to offer. His desire took on that sharp, familiar edge as he surrendered to his obsession, his mind supplanting Kagome beneath him instead. The bitch’s youki flared at his sudden fervor, and he grit his fangs in irritation, thinking now that his hand would have been better after all.

Yet his pleasure was mounting within him, spilling from him as he pulled out of her with a snarl. His seed poured out across the snowy earth, the bitch landing in a heap as he pushed her away from him in disgust.

“Did I please you, my lord?” she asked him demurely as she drew herself up.

Righting his clothes and armor, he stood, glaring down at her. “Leave,” he said, “before I kill you.”

With a fearful nod, she rose as well, disappearing in a wisp of smoke. More discontent than ever before, Sesshoumaru turned his bitter gaze toward Edo village.


	15. Chapter Fifteen

**Chapter Fifteen**

“So, I’ve been thinking,” Kagome began, setting down her half-empty bowl of stew, “about what our next move should be.”

Maybe it was the gravity in her tone, or the fact that she had never been one to pass up a meal, but at her words, the others paused as well, setting their own lunches aside as they looked to her attentively. The fire of Kaede’s hearth crackled loudly in the ensuing quiet as Kagome took a moment to compose her thoughts. She had wanted to wait for Sesshoumaru to return, but after speaking to Kaede, they had both agreed that the circumstances were too urgent to delay this discussion any longer.

“I’ve told you guys before about what Hakudoushi mentioned to us during the battle on the mountain. If what he said was true, and there really are only a few Jewel shards left, then Naraku must already be on the verge of completing the Shikon no Tama.” Pausing to catch her breath, Kagome continued, “It’s easier for him— _safer_  for him, at this point—to let Mouryoumaru go about collecting the rest of the shards.”

“And once Mouryoumaru has collected them,” Miroku followed, his expression grave as he folded his arms into his dark sleeves, “Naraku need only wait for his incarnation to return to him.”

Kagome nodded. “Exactly what I was thinking, Miroku-san. In the meantime, with the majority of the Jewel in his possession, Naraku is only going to keep transforming and growing stronger—Kami only knows how strong he already is. Mouryoumaru is really powerful, too, but I don’t doubt that Naraku will be able to reabsorb him when the time comes—in fact, I think that’s just what he’s planning to do: to steal not only Mouryoumaru’s shards, but his power as well.”

“Either way,” Sango concluded bitterly, her deep brown eyes reflecting the glow of the flames, “Naraku would finally have all of the Jewel shards at his disposal.”

Miroku’s gaze fell to the hearth as well, Kagome and Kaede both frowning deeply as they all silently considered Kohaku’s fate. The stakes were as high as they had ever been, and in Kagome’s mind the task ahead of them was clear.

“We’ll just have to stop Mouryoumaru from getting his hands on the rest of those shards, then,” she declared, rising to her feet. “Even if we can just keep  _one_  away from him and Naraku, that would go a long way toward tipping the odds.”

“Aye,” Kaede assented at once, “but where might these remaining shards be?”

“Well,” Kagome said, fiddling with her sweater sleeves, “I know who has  _two_  of them, at least…”

Exchanging a weighty glance with Miroku and Sango, the three of them answered in unison, “ _Kouga_.”

“But, Kagome-chan,” Sango said with a furrowed brow, “how can you be certain that Mouryoumaru hasn’t already taken Kouga-sama’s shards?”

“I guess I can’t be certain,” Kagome admitted as she began to pace. “But I dealt Mouryoumaru a pretty nasty blow back on that mountain. He’ll want to be in top form before he takes on a full-blooded demon with two Jewel shards—not to mention a clan of wolf youkai at his command. Come to think of it, that could very well have been the reason why Mouryoumaru was looking to absorb Sesshoumaru’s power in the first place…” Stopping, she turned back to face the group. “Anyway, if he’s anything like Naraku, Mouryoumaru’ll be waiting for the right opportunity to strike. If we act now, there’s every chance that we can reach Kouga-kun before him.”

“And supposing that to be the case,” Miroku questioned, his violet eyes glittering significantly at Kagome, “how, then, do you propose to convince Kouga-sama to surrender his shards?”

The young miko blushed, averting her gaze. “I’ll, um, cross that bridge when I come to it, I guess…”

_Maybe it’s good Sesshoumaru_ isn’t _around to hear this_ , Kagome thought anxiously.

“A-anyway!” she blustered on, her forefinger rising for emphasis. “The main thing is to get to Kouga-kun and inform him of the situation. Hopefully, he’ll agree to come over to our side. But worst-case scenario, we’ll all have a better idea of where we stand, and what we’re up against.”

“I agree,” Sango said, her eyes closing for a moment. “Kouga-sama’s shards are our best chance for success.”

“I assume you’ll be departing at once then, Kagome-sama?” Miroku asked, frowning slightly.

Her friends looked solemnly to her as she nodded, knowing what they were thinking: though Miroku’s arm was finally free of the sling, and Sango was getting around much better on her wounded leg, the two of them still weren’t yet fit to accompany her on this mission. With Sesshoumaru nowhere to be found, Kagome had no choice but to go it alone.

“Tomorrow,” she decided. “If all goes well, I’ll be back before sundown—Kouga-kun’s lands aren’t too far from here, and Entei-san travels fast.”

“Tomorrow, then,” Kaede affirmed gruffly, though there was a glimmer of unease in her one-eyed glance.

After finishing their meal in contemplative silence, Kagome parted from her friends and set out with Entei toward a clearing near the edge of the woods. Apart from a long red scratch, her injury had all but healed, and ever since Kaede had deemed her well enough to train, Kagome had been working hard to hone her miko skills under her elder’s guidance. But there was something Kaede couldn’t help her with—something Kagome had been working to master, necessarily, on her own.

Fitting her bow with an arrow, Kagome narrowed her eyes in concentration as she drew back, her power flowing along her weapon in muted waves—like the ripple of light breaking on the surface of a stream. Her breath released in time with her fingers, the arrow gleaming faintly as it streaked through the air, imparting its patterned glow to the tree it struck. As the web of light fizzled out a mere moment later, Kagome sighed wearily, reaching once more into her quiver.

Arrow after arrow peppered the poor innocent tree, but no matter how hard Kagome tried, she just couldn’t get her seals to hold.  _Lock and key_ , she told herself repeatedly, but that level of pure focus, she was learning, was frustratingly difficult to attain— _especially_  when her worried thoughts kept turning toward a certain demon lord…

As she strung her last arrow, the flare of youki behind her drew her attention entirely. Abruptly, she turned, a smile blooming across her face as she jogged over to the shaded edge of the clearing.

“Sesshoumaru!” she exclaimed breathlessly, stopping just before him. “Thank the gods you’re back! Look, I’ve just been talking with Baa-chan and the others, and—”

Her words caught in her throat as he pulled her flush against him, clawed fingers carding through the hair at her nape. Silently, intensely, he studied her upturned face, the expression in his deep amber eyes as unfathomable as ever. Kagome swallowed, her heart fluttering as his gaze fell, the pad of his thumb pressing hard against the bone of her cheek.

“Sesshoumaru…” she whispered, the bow slipping from her sweaty hand, clattering forgotten to the ground as he slanted his mouth against hers.

Kagome’s wide eyes slid shut as she buried her hands in the long flowing silk of Sesshoumaru’s sleeves, her lips melding eagerly with his. He kissed her fiercely, hungrily, a small sound of pleasure escaping her when his rough tongue broke past the seal of her lips and swept possessively against her own. Shyly, she traced the smooth curve of a fang, and he half-growled, half-groaned into her open mouth, the points of his claws pricking the skin of her lower back even through the thick, heavy wool of her sweater.

He tasted musky, wild, her lungs drowning in his rich masculine scent as she struggled increasingly to breathe. His grip tightened in her hair, insistent claws tilting her head farther back as he deepened his assault, his fangs crushing bruisingly against her tender lips, clashing against her own blunt teeth until every inch of her mouth was hot and aching and raw.

Desire bled through her, despite the undercurrent of anger in his actions. When at last he drew back, she licked cautiously at her swollen lower lip, the sharp, unmistakable tang of copper striking her tongue.

Her blood was on his mouth as well, his gaze cool and collected as he banished it with a claw. “What was it you wanted to say?”

Kagome stared at him, her chest and face still flushed with heat as she fought to bring her breathing back under control. But like flipping a switch,  _he_  was perfectly composed—looking for all the world as if he  _hadn’t_  just had his tongue shoved halfway down her throat. If she ever managed to figure Sesshoumaru out, Kagome decided, it would only be because she’d gone as crazy as him.

“Um…” she began without much success, pawing ineffectually at her tangled hair. “What I was going to say…wait, what  _is_  it I was going to say?” she mumbled to herself as his youki simmered with impatience. “Oh, we—that is, I  _think_ we—figured out what Naraku’s and Mouryoumaru’s next moves will be.”

As coherently as she could, Kagome recounted her lunchtime discussion with Sango and the others—the first part of it, at least. Taking a deep breath, she considered how best to paraphrase the rest.

“…And so, since it seems like Mouryoumaru will be going after the remaining Jewel shards, our best bet is to beat him to the punch. As it turns out,” she ventured hesitantly, “I’m pretty sure I know where two of them are.”

Sesshoumaru’s gaze narrowed at her tone. Inwardly, Kagome cringed.

_Not exactly a promising start,_  she lamented to herself.

“And where is that?” he demanded.

She cast him a sidelong glance. “…Do you happen to know a guy named Kouga?—He’s the leader of the eastern wolf demon tribe.”

“I know  _of_  him,” Sesshoumaru answered, his gaze sharpening further still.

“W-well, assuming nothing’s changed, he has two Shikon shards in his possession—one in each leg.”

“You are suggesting we kill him and take the shards,” the daiyoukai presumed flatly.

“ _No!_ ” Kagome exclaimed in horror. “That’s not  _at all_  what I was suggesting! He’s a friend.”

“A  _friend_ ,” Sesshoumaru repeated witheringly, advancing on her with a glare that could have cut through solid stone.

Retreating a step, Kagome nodded quickly. “Yeah—Inuyasha and I helped him out a while back.”

The daiyoukai paused, considering. “So, this wolf is in your debt.”

“U-um, not exactly…but, I think if I can explain the situation to him, there’s a good chance he’ll join up with us. He has a grudge against Naraku as well.”

“And if he does not?” Sesshoumaru questioned lowly.

Kagome brought her fingers together nervously. “H-hopefully, it won’t come to that…but, Sesshoumaru, just so you know, Kouga-ku— _Kouga_ ,” she corrected hastily, “is operating under some, er, false assumptions…”

Sesshoumaru faintly scowled. “What  _assumptions_?”

“Ah, well…”

As Kagome tried to find the words that would result in the fewest possible number of casualties, an excited cry rose up from the opposite edge of the clearing. Together they turned as Rin and Shippou sprinted toward them.

“Sesshoumaru-sama!” the little girl beamed, going at once to her guardian’s side. “Rin is so happy to see you!”

“Sango-chan sent us to fetch you,” Shippou explained to Kagome, crossing his arms over his chest. “She’s invited everyone over for dinner since you’re leaving tomorrow.”

“ _Is that so._ ”

Kagome tensed at Sesshoumaru’s frigid tone, shooting him a small, apologetic smile. “I was  _just_ getting around to that part…”

**xXxXxXx**

Later that night, alone in her hut, Kagome prepared for tomorrow’s trip to Kouga’s mountain stronghold. Though she put on a bold face for Sesshoumaru and her friends, she couldn’t help but feel a twinge of anxiety about the journey ahead.

It had been quite a while since she’d crossed paths with her would-be suitor. What if her assumptions about Kouga were totally off-base? Maybe he’d lost his shards. Maybe his feelings toward her had cooled. While Kagome hoped for everyone’s sake that he kept his hands to himself, the thought of Kouga viewing her with mistrust or even hostility was troubling to say the least.

She honestly didn’t know what to expect, but step one was to get there and meet with him in the first place. Pushing her worries aside, Kagome continued to pack up her yellow bag. She didn’t expect to be gone more than a day, but if there was one thing Mrs. Higurashi had taught her, it was to always be prepared.

Stuffing a couple extra pairs of panties into the bag for good measure, Kagome turned her attention to her defenses. Now, where had Inuyasha’s fire-rat hakama gotten off to? Maybe she had left it over at Kaede’s place. Making a mental note to stop by and check later, she inspected her bow and arrows, fixing the fletching here and there and adjusting the tension of the string.

The threat of Mouryoumaru was ever-present in her mind. Until they’d dealt with him, Kagome knew she couldn’t even begin to rest easy—for Inuyasha’s sake if nothing else.

Eyes stinging, she took a moment to remember her departed friend. To say that they hadn’t always seen eye-to-eye would be an understatement, but still, she missed him greatly. He had been her very first friend and ally in Sengoku Jidai. It was difficult at times like this, not to feel a little lost here without him.

Of course, she had  _Sesshoumaru_ …

Blushing, Kagome thought back to their kiss that afternoon. He was so hot and cold, she hardly knew where she stood with him at any given moment. Yet, even though he’d disappeared without a trace for days on end, she hadn’t doubted that he would return. It wasn’t  _trust_ , exactly, but she supposed it would just have to be good enough.

Sanding down a splinter on the frame of her bow, Kagome looked up in question at the sound of a faint knock at her door. Straightening, she set her weapon aside and rose to her feet, her stiff spine cracking at the motion.

“Come in!” she called out cheerily.

The curtain lifted, a shadowed figure crossing over into the light of the hut, a square-shaped parcel in hand.

“Sango-chan,” Kagome greeted in surprise.

“Good evening, Kagome-chan—I hope I’m not disturbing you.” Not quite meeting her gaze, Sango extended the parcel toward her. “I wanted to give this to you at dinner, but the sleeves still needed a finishing touch…”

Puzzled, Kagome pulled at the string that bound the package, a small gasp escaping her as it opened. Beneath the rice paper wrapping was the Robe of the Fire-Rat—though Kagome recognized it only by its distinctive texture. Cut to fit her, the haori had been bleached pure white and reworked in the miko tradition, the thread embroidering its sleeves dyed to match the color of the hakama below—

“Blue,” Kagome wondered aloud, running her fingers over the rich azure fabric.

Sango nodded, a rosy hue touching her cheeks. “I thought the true Shikon Miko deserved a mark of distinction.”

“It’s beautiful,” Kagome said, her eyes stinging once again as she looked up at her friend. “Thank you, Sango-chan.”

“You’re welcome.” The taijiya glanced down at her clasped hands. “…Miroku-san helped as well.”

“ _Miroku-san_ , eh?” Kagome teased lightly. “What happened to ‘Houshi-sama’?”

“I’ll answer that,” Sango returned evenly, despite her deepening blush, “when you tell me what’s going on between you and Sesshoumaru-sama.”

“F-fair enough,” Kagome managed, drawing the sleeve of her new haori before her flushed face as she pretended to admire the stitching more closely.

As her flush receded, she peered around the furisode’s billowy edge, letting the sleeve fall altogether at Sango’s concerned expression.

“Be careful, Kagome-chan,” the taijiya said softly.

The miko had a feeling Sango was referring to more than just her upcoming venture. Promises, Kagome had learned, were tricky things to keep in such uncertain times. With a small smile, she offered her friend the best assurance she could make.

“I’ll try.”

**xXxXxXx**

Clothed in her new miko garb, Kagome set out the next morning toward the appointed meeting place. It was terribly early still, the pink light of dawn just beginning to creep up over the dark horizon. Though the air was far from warm, it was a vast improvement over the chill of the preceding weeks. If she squinted hard enough, she could almost see the first inklings of winter’s end.

Kagome breathed in deeply, only her bare hands, face, and toes feeling the coolness at any rate, the rest of her body pleasantly warm beneath the insulating magic of the fire-rat’s woven fur. With her bow, quiver, and backpack slung over her shoulders, she felt as though a bit of balance had been restored to the universe. It felt indescribably good, to be working toward her destined goal once again.

Smiling, she and Entei drew up beside Miroku, Sango, Kirara, and Kaede atop the preordained hill. At once, Shippou sprang into her arms.

“You look really pretty, Kagome-chan,” the fox-kit remarked, a bashful tinge dusting his cheeks.

“Aw—thank you, Shippou-chan!” Kagome said, blushing as well.

As the wind rose, she brushed the errant end of her hair ribbon from her cheek, the lower unbound half of her hair trailing free as she glanced over at Sesshoumaru. A short distance away he stood with a teary-eyed Rin at his side, his golden eyes looking over at her in turn. Kagome’s blush deepened.

“Ready?” she asked him.

At his nod, she swung up onto Entei’s back, peering toward the East. Fuzzy and purple in the distance, she could just make out the range of mountains where Kouga lived. Her sights set, she turned back to her friends. In the movies, this would be the part where she delivered a dramatic line of farewell or said something stirring and inspirational—but this was real life, and nothing that didn’t sound overly trite or cheesy came to mind.

“Well,” she said, crooking a smile, “I’m off.”

“Safe travels, Kagome-sama,” Miroku said, inclining his head.

Sango smiled back, Kirara chirping in her arms. “Come back soon, Kagome-chan.”

“Take care, child,” Kaede said with a concerned frown.

“Don’t let Kouga get too handsy!” Shippou called after her as she took to the air.

Kagome blanched, hoping Sesshoumaru hadn’t caught that. Judging by the way his eyes were currently narrowed in her direction, it seemed unlikely…

She was just about to tactfully change the subject and ask him if he was coming along when the last voice in the world she pretty much ever wanted to hear cut through the quiet morning atmosphere like—well, the grating squawk of a toad.

“ _Milord!_  I have saddled Ah-Un— _ugh—_ as you commanded!”

Glowering, Kagome looked down as Jakken trudged up the hill, leading along the drowsy two-headed dragon with obvious difficulty. As Sesshoumaru settled gracefully atop Ah-Un’s back, the imp clambered up after him.

Kagome gaped in annoyed disbelief as they drew up beside her in midair. “Don’t tell me you’re bringing  _him_  along!”

“Silence, impudent ningen!” the imp shouted with an affronted wave of his staff. “This Jakken is Sesshoumaru-sama’s loyal retainer. I will follow milord wherever he travels! If er…milord wills it so,” he amended hastily at the daiyoukai’s warning glare.

“We have tarried long enough,” Sesshoumaru said, giving Ah-Un’s reins a brisk crack as he caught Kagome’s eye.

“Right,” she said with a nod, trying to keep her voice strong and steady as she realized she’d been staring at his mouth. “Let’s go!”

_This_ , Kagome thought, as the five of them sailed together through the blustery sky,  _might just turn out to be the longest day of my life…_

**xXxXxXx**

The sun gleamed high in the iron sky as they touched down at last upon Kouga’s mountain. Or, at least, what Kagome  _thought_  was his mountain…

Sliding down from Entei’s warm back, she took the opportunity to stretch out her cramped legs as she walked along the flinty overlook, searching far and near for the hidden waterfall entrance. She could picture it so clearly in her mind—but in that picture, too, the season had been entirely different, the mountain path and waterfall both wreathed in the vibrant green of spring. This time of year, everything muddled together in muted shades of brown and grey.

A glimmer of blue the next peak over caught her eye. “Ah!” she said, glancing back at Sesshoumaru as she pointed toward it. “There it is!”

Climbing atop Entei again, she led them over to the cascading, icy fall. But as soon as they landed, she realized this wasn’t the right spot either. A lack of demonic presence wasn’t the deciding factor—she knew that the wolf clan’s hideout was protected by a youki-concealing enchantment. Rather, the waterfall was a bit too small, and peeking behind it, Kagome could see nothing but glistening grey rock.

“Hm,” she frowned, rubbing at her chin. “Guess this isn’t it, either…”

“You have no idea where the entrance lies, do you, wench?” Jakken groused, crossing his bony green arms over his chest.

Kagome glared. “I know it’s  _somewhere_  around here.” Shading her eyes with a hand, she peered out over the range again. “Maybe that next mountain, over there…”

“The entrance is this way.”

Blinking in surprise, she watched as Sesshoumaru strode past. Exchanging a quick glance with Jakken, they hurried after him as he circled around a narrow ledge, to the mountain’s other side. Sure enough, the path she remembered came into view, the distant crash of falling water meeting her ears from above.

“Yes, this is it!” Kagome exclaimed, looking at Sesshoumaru curiously. “But, how did you know…?”

“The stench,” he answered flatly, his nose still wrinkled in distaste.

“Milord’s sense of smell is unparalleled!” Jakken effused.

“Oh, hush,” Kagome grumbled, squishing him against the sheer rock wall as she elbowed past.

Together they ascended the steep mountain trail, Entei and Ah-Un gliding off to the side. Kagome huffed with exertion as she attempted futilely to keep up with Sesshoumaru’s long, effortless strides. By the time they reached the summit, she was sweaty and wheezing, her bangs plastered to her forehead as she hunched over to catch her breath.

Sesshoumaru continued on ahead toward the waterfall, Jakken panting along behind him. As the daiyoukai stopped before the frothing pool at the base, a couple of wary, wolfish faces appeared from the cliffs above.

“Oi, what do you want?” one of the sentries called out.

“Kouga,” the daiyoukai demanded in turn. “Where is he?”

The sentry eyed Sesshoumaru narrowly. “Who’s asking?”

“Mangy wolves! How dare you question Sesshoumaru-sama!” Jakken admonished with a rap of his staff.

“ _Sesshoumaru_ -sama,” the other sentry repeated to his companion in a harsh urgent tone. “...Isn’t he the Lord of the Western Lands?”

“W-what do you want?” the first sentry asked again, visibly uneasy.

Sensing Sesshoumaru’s patience wearing thin, Kagome straightened, edging her way to the front of the group with a hesitant smile. At once, the guards’ postures relaxed, the one who had been addressing Sesshoumaru exhaling in relief.

“Onee-sama!” he said, grinning broadly in welcome. Resting his spear against his shoulder, he turned, calling back behind him, “Oi, you louts! Tidy up the den—Kagome-onee-sama is here!”

“Oh, you guys don’t need to go to any trouble…” she said with a blush, glancing nervously over at Sesshoumaru as the wards guarding the den entrance dispelled with a flicker.

The daiyoukai stared hard back at her, his gaze boring into her still as they passed through the curtain of falling water and into the minefield beyond.

Shaking the mist from her hair, Kagome steeled herself as she crossed the threshold into Kouga’s den. Wolves on two legs and four scampered about the huge stony cavern, arms and jaws laden with old bones, sake bottles, and dusty furs. Shooting her apologetic glances as they bowed and darted past, the youkai cleaned up the den like their lives depended on it—the ones who weren’t clearing out the place hastily sweeping it up with brooms made from Birds of Paradise feathers or frantically airing out the floor pelts.

As the sentry—whose name she now remembered was Kiba—ushered her toward the raised slab at the back of the dwelling, two wolves who had been idly watching a boar roast sprang to attention. Smiling abashedly at her and her guide, the pair cranked the spit so fast the massive skewered pig spun like a top.

“That meat better be ready soon,” Kiba growled over at them. “You’ve been roasting it all day.”

The two cooks sweat-dropped. “J-just a few minutes more, Onii-san!”

With another glare for good measure, the beta wolf turned back to Kagome, smiling warmly. “You’ll eat with us, won’t you, Onee-sama?”

“Oh, I…I wouldn’t want to impose!” she laughed lightly, throwing up her hands even as her stomach gave a loud rumble at the delicious aromas wafting toward her.

At Kiba’s behest, she took up the place of prominence on the stone platform. Kneeling down on the hide at the center, she folded her hands awkwardly in her lap as the members of Kouga’s pack came by to greet her. Sesshoumaru stood coolly off to the side. Though he wasn’t directly in her line of sight, she could almost  _feel_  his expression darken a fraction more each time another wolf called her ‘sister’. Even Jakken was giving the taciturn daiyoukai a wide berth, as he crept around to Kagome’s other side—not-so-subtly placing her between them as a human shield.

When lunch was ready, Kagome was graciously offered the still rather rare liver—which she politely declined, opting for a rack of ribs instead. She felt bad for the young wolf who approached Sesshoumaru with a shank of meat—his frosty glare and what she suspected was a low-frequency growl sending the poor adolescent running away with a tucked tail and a whimper. As Jakken prodded sourly at the pig hoof dropped before him, Kagome ate with relish.

“So,” she said pleasantly, forgetting herself for a moment as she swallowed down a mouthful of tasty pork, “when’s Kouga-kun coming back?”

She felt the sudden flare of Sesshoumaru’s youki like a whip lash. Cringing, she played off the verbal mistake as best she could, looking innocently around at the gathered wolves. Since they’d stumbled upon the den, she hadn’t sensed Kouga or his Jewel shards nearby. With Ginta and Hakkaku gone as well, Kagome figured he must be out hunting or patrolling his lands or doing whatever else it was a wolf prince did.

Kiba glanced uncertainly at his pack mate beside him, who frowned as well. “We’re not sure, Kagome-onee-sama. When Kouga-onii-sama left yesterday, he didn’t tell us how long he would be gone.”

“Left?” Kagome’s face fell as she set the ribs aside.

Kiba nodded. “Our northern brothers are under attack. Onii-sama and a few other members of our clan went to help them.”

“…Who’s attacking them?” Kagome asked, a sinking feeling settling in her stomach.

Kiba’s expression was fearful and grave. “An army…of the undead.”

Kagome’s fists clenched at her sides.  _Naraku,_ she thought fiercely in dread. At once she stood, the wolves sitting up attentively as she adopted a fighting stance.

“Where can I find him?” she demanded, her blue eyes glinting with determination.

“Head straight north from here, and you should find him,” the beta wolf answered after a moment, gazing at Kagome in awe. “…Truly, you’ll go to his aid, Onee-sama?”

“Of course,” Kagome said absently, adjusting her quiver.

She blinked as Kiba and the rest of the wolves collapsed around her in the deepest of bows. Blushing, she stood there awkwardly on her literal pedestal.

“Onee-sama, you are peerless among females!” Kiba rumbled, the others growling along in assent. “Kouga-onii-sama could not have chosen a better mate.”

Kagome’s face exploded in scarlet. She didn’t even  _dare_  to look in Sesshoumaru’s direction as he strode from the den, but if the dark sear of his youki was any indication, he definitely wanted to kill someone.

Most likely  _her_.

Not even Jakken was foolish enough to follow his precious lord out. Assuming the imp to be her servant, the wolves saddled him up with meat and wine, despite his infuriated grumbling.

“Return to us soon, Onee-sama,” Kiba said as he and the others bid her goodbye.

Heart rising in her throat, she passed through the waterfall once more. A short distance away, Sesshoumaru stood next to Ah-Un, his claws flexed at his side as he stared out over the the valley below. Jakken scuttled behind her as she walked over to Entei, the horse youkai giving her a distinctly questioning look.

“Um, Sesshoumaru…” she ventured cautiously.

Without so much as a backward glance, he leapt lightly atop Ah-Un, setting an immediate course north. Jakken wailed as Sesshoumaru departed without him, his bulbous yellow eyes swiveling toward Kagome in an accusing glare. For once, she felt like she might actually deserve it.

“...Come on,” she muttered gloomily as she snatched him up, depositing the huffing imp on Entei’s back as she settled behind him, taking off after the demon lord.


	16. Chapter Sixteen

**Chapter Sixteen**

Sesshoumaru glared north, his claws biting into his palms as he tightened his grip on Ah-Un’s reins. He had entertained the girl’s ridiculous whims long enough. It was time to end this foolishness. He would find Kouga and strike him down this very day—as he had proposed from the start.

As his seething blood demanded that he should.

To have suffered the company of those mongrels had been more than vexing, but their effusions toward the miko had filled him with unspeakable rage. How she had managed to win such devotion beneath his notice was infuriating. It was true that in the first months he had tasked her with undoing the seal, he had summoned her infrequently—infrequently enough, it seemed, for her to have ensnared another so completely that even without mating her, his underlings revered her as their alpha…

The daiyoukai grit his fangs anew. An alpha she was—even _he_ had been forced to acknowledge this truth. Though the girl was categorically ignorant of her appeal, the beast in him could not let such a fact escape his notice. But she was _not_ Kouga’s alpha.

This, Sesshoumaru would make clear.

As the sun began to descend toward the horizon, the miko drew up alongside him. He could sense her apprehension, but it was the guilt he scented from her which at last gave him pause. He leveled his gaze upon her, vindicated and enraged in equal measure as she shrank back from the force of his scrutiny.

“It’s getting late,” she said hesitantly. “…Shouldn’t we stop to make camp?”

Sesshoumaru considered her narrowly. Perhaps he had been too hasty in presuming her ignorance. Wordlessly, he led them down to a clearing in the pine forest below. The girl dismounted, Jakken springing from the horse with a muttered curse. Setting down her pack, she glanced at Sesshoumaru briefly before turning away with a frown.

“Thanks for putting up with Jakken, Entei-san,” she said quietly, scratching the horse youkai behind the ears. “I know he’s a pain.”

“ _You_ are the pain, ningen!” Jakken snapped. “Why Sesshoumaru-sama suffers your existence I do not know!”

The miko glared. “Yeah, well, you’re welcome. I could have literally left you to the wolves back there.” She hugged her arms about her chest, studiously avoiding Sesshoumaru’s eye. “…I’m going to find some firewood.”

Sesshoumaru watched as she walked away, his black mood only growing darker still. The fact that she could not seem to face him made him more suspicious and irate. She was concealing something from him—of that he was certain. The thought that there might be the least truth to what those wolves had claimed made him want to tear her limb from limb.

“Jakken,” he said sharply, “see to Ah-Un.”

“Y-yes, milord!”

Already the two-headed dragon was lumbering off in the direction of the closest stream. Dropping the wolves’ gifts next to Entei, Jakken trotted after in pursuit. The miko’s horse lay down as Sesshoumaru swept past, crimson eyes regarding him indolently. The daiyoukai’s jaw clenched—even this _beast_ was afforded more respect by the girl than he, his ire deepening further as he recalled how familiarly she had addressed the wolf prince.

His concealed youki roiled beneath his skin as he stalked through the woods. He could kill Kouga—perhaps he still would. But it was the girl herself who needed to be brought to heel—

_Now_.

Swiftly, he came upon her from behind.

As usual, the girl was irritatingly oblivious to her surroundings. Sighing, she bent down, reaching for another stick when his hand seized her by the shoulder, the branches in her arms clattering to the ground as he slammed her back against a tree. Wide blue eyes stared up at him in surprise.

“Answer me now,” he said lowly, his claws digging into her skin. “What is there between you and the wolf?”

“K-Kouga?” Nervously, she shook her head. “There isn’t anything between us.”

“A member of his pack called you his _mate_ ,” Sesshoumaru snarled.

The girl flinched, guilt suffusing her scent once more. “I-I tried to tell you…Kouga tends to jump to conclusions. He’s got it in his head that I’m his woman.”

“And why is that?” the daiyoukai seethed, repressing the urge to crush her fragile bones. “What have you promised him?”

“I haven’t _promised_ him anything,” she bit out. “He’s just a friend to me.”

“A _friend_.” Her anger stoked his own, his hand going to her throat as he pressed himself against her. “Tell me, miko, how many _friends_ do you have? Do you go to their aid when it suits you?” His grip tightened further. “Or do they merely come to yours, as I did that day by the stream?”

Her expression darkened, her pulse flaring beneath his thumb. “Don’t insult me, Sesshoumaru. The only one who’s ever touched me is you.” She raised her chin, the glint of defiance in her eyes stirring his blood to new and terrible heights. “But even if that wasn’t the case, I don’t see how it’s any business of yours.”

He stared at her, his claws locked around her throat, his body crushing her own. Truly, she was mad, to provoke him in this way. Fury and arousal warred within him, searing and fierce—a torrent of vicious need scorching through his veins. She gasped as he forced her to the ground on her knees, the front of her haori shearing open against the spikes of his armor.

“What business is it of mine,” he rumbled, his fingers fisting in her hair, her head snapping back beneath his grasp. “ _You_ are not a free woman. You have sold yourself to _this_ Sesshoumaru, and I will not share you.”

Her hands clutched at his thighs, her gaze curiously clouded as she nodded in understanding. His grip relaxed as he looked upon her—her beautiful face lifted toward him, open and guileless, her supple body bent before him in clear submission. She would never be his alpha—she would never be _anyone’s_ alpha. She was his shameful, mortal secret—his to keep for as long as he saw fit.

_His_ to discard.

He reminded himself of this as her fingers skimmed up along the silk of his hakama, his breath hitching when they slipped beneath the upraised plate of his armor and brushed against his hardened length. She was gazing up at him still, her full pink lips parted slightly, her long dark lashes descending as she continued to caress him through his clothes.

“…What is it that really you want from me, Sesshoumaru?”

His eyes widened at the starkness of the question, his erection throbbing against her brazen little hand. A few clasps burst, thudding against the mossy earth, as he tore his armor from him, steering her hand forcefully through the wrenched opening of his hakama. He burned as he felt her touch upon his naked flesh, the light, uncertain curve of her fingers around him making him twitch with uncontrollable need. His left hand latched around her wrist, the claws of his other cutting into the bark of the tree behind her as she tried—and failed—to encircle him completely.

Half-guiding her, he watched her face as she explored him, her brilliant eyes veiled with desire, her lower lip pulled enticingly between her teeth. As her gaze fell, so did his. Through the mending tears in her haori, he could still see the red scratches his armor had left on her soft, creamy skin. His hand slid up from her wrist, his claws scoring her lightly beneath her sleeve. He wanted to mark every inch of her, to brand her so fully that no one— _herself_ most of all—would ever think to question his claim.

As he savored this thought, _swelled_ with this thought, her touch grew bolder, her clenched fingers gliding over him with increasing speed, her blunt nails grazing incidentally— _pleasurably_ —along the thick central seam of his shaft as she was forced to re-adjust her grip. When she pulled him out into the open air, she stilled, a low impatient growl escaping him as he thrust insistently into her furled hand.

Belatedly, indulgently, he realized she was arrested by the sight of him. Leaning back a bit, he studied her face as she stared at the hard, jutting prominence of his arousal, her trepidation fading before his eyes—eclipsed by a rapt interest that had his claws burying themselves in her hair once again. He groaned raggedly as she brought her thumb to the weeping tip of his erection, the testing swirl of her touch there nearly undoing him. But it was when she bowed her head, when she drew him unexpectedly into the hot liquid softness of her mouth that his spine went rigid with shock and desire, his buried claws wrenching her head up in violent, lustful disbelief.

“Where did you learn that?” he demanded roughly.

She stared at him in hazy confusion, her hand still wrapped around him. “T-the movies…”

He glared back at her, his patience long spent. “What?” he snapped.

“U-um…” Licking her lips, she struggled to collect her clearly addled thoughts. “Where I’m from we have these—these sort of paintings—that also move…so you can see, you know, motions and—”

“You’ve _watched_ this with other men?”

“N-no!” she exclaimed, flushing. “Not with _men—_ with my friends!—Oh wait, oh gods…um, that’s not what I meant! I see what you were asking now…well, yes, technically, there are ‘other men’ _in_ the pictures, so I-I guess I’ve watched them being um…”

Sesshoumaru could feel the beginnings of a headache taking root behind his eyes. Shortly, he exhaled.

“Stop rambling, Kagome,” he said tersely, dragging her forward by the nape, “and continue.”

His claws gouged the tree they were braced against as her sweet, warm breath flowed over the still-damp head of his sex, her soft lips parting around him as she took him in once again. Sinking deeper into the wet exquisite heat of her mouth, he curled his claws against her scalp, urging her along as she attempted to swallow him whole. She had only taken him halfway in when he hit the back of her throat, a gravelly breath escaping him as she whimpered, the soft sound reverberating through him entirely.

Slowly, firmly, he guided her back, his eyes following the glistening trail her damp lips left along his blood-darkened skin. Near the peak of his erection he paused, a shiver spiking through him as her tongue traced along the underside of his shaft, tasted the very tip of him where even now his desire for her was leaking from him—only to be swept away by the gentle tortuous flicker of her tongue. Between his heavy breaths, he watched her move over him, her lashes fluttering almost closed as she worked to bring him to his end.

His right hand fell from the tree, joining with his left as he brought her face abruptly toward him. Her cry of shock muffled as he pushed past the back of her throat, forcing her to take as much of him as she could bear. She gagged and whimpered, her large lovely eyes gleaming up at him as he thrust fully into her for a fraction of a moment, her lips brushing fleetingly against his base as he released himself inside her with a thunderous growl.

Through the red fog of his lust, he watched her tears spill over at last, her lips stretched taut around him, her delicate throat working to swallow down his seed as it continued to spill within her. With primal possessiveness, his hand clasped the side of her face, his clawed thumb stroking again and again along the perfect softness of her cheek.

She coughed and gasped when he finally withdrew, her sleeve rising shakily to blot at her streaming eyes. Tears glittered from her lashes as he dropped down before her, the claws still in her hair hauling her toward him once again, bringing her lips forcefully to his own. He ignored her struggles to breathe, his tongue pressing insistently into her open mouth as she clung to his chest. Softly, she moaned into him, his coarse tongue rasping against hers, subduing hers, as he tasted himself within her.

But this taste— _his_ taste—was not enough.

Growling against her, he bore her to the ground, his fingers ripping at the ties of her hakama. She choked as he stripped her roughly, the back of her hand fluttering to her swollen lips. Glancing for a moment at the slip of red fabric shielding her, he hooked his claws into it as well, her hips lifting to aid him as he pulled, the fragile bands tearing beneath his grasp nonetheless.

She whimpered, her thighs trembling as he drew them apart around him, his eyes falling at once to her bare, dripping sex. His breath caught at the heady scent of her arousal, strong and intoxicating even with her only partly exposed to his view. Lowering, he spread her apart with his thumbs, a sheen of wetness breaking beautifully between her parted lips. Braced against his bottom fang, the tip of his tongue slipped at the sight, slicing bloodily along the point.

Hungry and intent, his eyes traced her—following each ripple and fold, each dip and swell. Tender and ripe, rosy and soft, wet and tempting as the lips on her face—the final proof that the gods must have crafted her specifically for his torment. His jaw clenched, the tips of his claws biting into her thighs as the urge to devour her threatened to overwhelm him completely.

“Is…is everything okay?”

He looked at her sharply. Propped up on an elbow, she gazed down at him worriedly. Her face was flushed, her eyes glazed with desire despite her furrowed brow. He could see that she had mistaken his restraint for reluctance. She had no way of knowing just how exquisite she was. She had no idea, either, of what he had in store.

Eyes locked with hers, he bent his mouth to her lower lips, a sharp breath of shock escaping her at the contact. His lashes descended as he savored her taste—rich and sweet and full. His tongue slipped eagerly between her delicate folds—what he had gleaned of her from his fingers that day by the stream now seeming like a beggar’s portion as he lapped her wetness from its teeming source. Tapping deeper into the well of her desire, he drank her in as she moaned and writhed in his hands. His low growl stilled her, his claws sliding under her, cupping and spreading her supple flesh as he raised her up and speared her on his tongue.

She cried out as he thrust into her silky heat, his nose buried in the soft thatch of fur at her apex. He scented her deeply, nudging occasionally at the bit of flesh she pressed urgently toward him on a whimper. As she had ruined him for all others, so _he_ would ruin her.

Drawing back, he eyed the ripe red bud at her center, engorged and faintly throbbing with neglect. His gaze flicked to hers briefly before he descended, his lips molding around the firm, heated point of her need, drawing it into his mouth as she bucked and whined. His hands pinned her by the hips as he laved at her, her back arching helplessly at the relentless friction of his tongue against her.

Her pleasure was mounting, her reiki simmering beneath her skin, heating his own as he increased the pace and pressure of his attentions. Twitching fingers threaded into his hair, her muscles tensing as he delivered that harsh, final stroke that sent her over the edge at last. His name fell from her lips, his hands holding her to him as he continued to lick at her despite her whimpered protests.

Thoroughly as she had drained him, the act of pleasuring her had left him half-hard again. His claws slid across the flat, downy plane of her stomach, the heel of his hand pressing into her, approximating the depth and distance where he yearned to plant his seed. Breaking from the cleft of her thighs at last, he loomed over her, taking in the sated sprawl of her body, the soft spent cast of her expression.

Her haori was partially opened, the cups of shimmering red fabric she wore beneath it straining to conceal her. Loosening the collar of his own haori, he tugged down the contraption, her full breasts overflowing it at once—pink-tipped and perfectly round, pillowing softly beneath the hard muscle of his chest as he crushed her to him, his lips meeting hers once again. Their tongues joined within her mouth, her flavor mingling with his. Bringing their hips together as well, he pushed partly into her, a shared groan passing between them as he probed her tight wet heat—fearing now, even without taking her completely, that once would not be enough.

She panted for air as he drew back from her, his lips hovering an inch above her own. Running a firm hand along the length of her body, his eyes seized hers intently.

“You will never belong to another,” he said, pressing as far into her as his partial erection would allow. “Do you understand?”

Weakly, she nodded, her hips slanting against his, drawing him into her a fraction more. He hissed in a breath, his claws going to her throat.

“Say it,” he growled.

“…I understand,” she whispered.

Her fingers wove through his own, an uncanny glimmer surfacing in her hooded gaze. He frowned as he parted from her, straightening his disheveled clothes.

“Return to camp,” he ordered her coolly. “I will join you in a while.”

Snatching up his armor, he turned from her, the expression in her eyes remaining with him long after he had left her behind.

**xXxXxXx**

For a while, Kagome just lay there—bare-chested and pants-less on the moss covered ground, the aftereffects of her orgasm and subsequent near-coupling still humming like morphine through her veins. _The Sesshoumaru Effect_ , she murmured in her mind. A dreamy sigh escaped her, desire pooling within her once more as she remembered the warm wet rasp of his tongue between her legs, the fleeting tortuous pressure of his hardness pushing into her.

She bit her lip, still not quite believing he’d been inside her. It had hurt, somewhat, when he’d first breached her—but nothing like the splitting agony she’d always been led to believe. The pain had faded fairly quickly, replaced by the most sublime feeling of _fullness_ she had ever experienced. His touch had felt wonderful within her, that day by the stream, but this sensation was on another level entirely.

Reaching between her weary thighs, Kagome prodded gingerly at her raw, tender skin, her fingers coming away wet but clear. Not even a trace of red. Maybe he hadn’t gone far enough in to tear her. Or maybe all that stuff she’d heard about bleeding the first time was another myth designed to scare girls into chastity. Since he hadn’t gone ‘all the way,’ was she still technically a virgin? Kagome’s lips twisted wryly—she certainly didn’t _feel_ very virginal.

As the sun began to set, she picked herself up at last and began taking inventory of her scattered clothing. Snapping her bra back into place, she frowned as she picked up her matching shredded panties—a lost cause if she’d ever seen one. Despite Sesshoumaru’s rough handling, her hakama and haori were crisp and perfectly intact, Kagome silently rejoicing over the resilience of youkai outerwear. To have to return to camp and face _Jakken_ in nothing but sex-tattered rags would be a fate far worse than death.

Shuddering at the thought, she tied her hakama and gathered up the scattered pile of branches she’d been so diligently collecting before Sesshoumaru had swept in and reduced her to a creature of mindless, reckless need. A blush fanned out across her cheeks as she approached the campsite. Bracing herself mentally, Kagome ascended the last needle-laced slope, a breath of relief whooshing from her when she saw that only Entei was there.

The horse youkai turned to regard her as she stepped into the clearing. They were subtle, but over the time she’d spent with her equine companion, Kagome had gotten better and better at deciphering his looks—and the one he was directing at her right now was _particularly_ shrewd.

“Don’t even start,” she groused at him, dropping the sticks in her arms as she ran a hand through her hopelessly tangled hair. “I know _exactly_ how this looks…”

With a smoky snort, he glanced away. Huffing, Kagome strode over to him, snatching up the yellow pack he’d clearly been nosing through in her absence. Assuming the stream she’d seen from above wasn’t too far away, she figured she had just about enough light remaining to take a quick icy bath and return before the sun set.

As Entei rose, deigning to accompany her, Kagome swung up astride him and set off. She could just hear the sound of running water when a familiar impish voice from up ahead set her teeth on edge. Glancing through the evergreen trees, she rolled her eyes as Jakken hopped around Ah-Un in the midst of an angry tirade.

“No, you slothful beast! How dare you sit down again?! This Jakken commands that you stand at once!”

Blithely, the dragon ignored him, one head nodding off as the other snapped up a fish in its sharp-toothed jaws. Kagome watched as Jakken foolishly whacked a scaled leg with his nintojou, Ah-Un’s drowsy half setting the imp’s hat alight with a puff of flame.

“ _Arghhhh_ —curse you!” Sesshoumaru’s vassal seethed as he stomped up and down on his singed headgear.

Reluctant as she was to miss out on this circus act, Kagome was conscious of the time. Together, she and Entei traveled upstream, the horse youkai wading at once into the chilly current as the miko stripped down on the bank. Shivering, she made her way toward him, sighing as she finally stepped into the circle of warmth around him. In his immediate vicinity, the water was bath-temperature, and Kagome’s muscles relaxed as she washed and de-tangled her hair, her wet locks steaming as she draped them over Entei’s hot back and scrubbed at her skin.

Her arm and chest were streaked with red where Sesshoumaru’s claws and armor had scratched against her, her lower half chafed and sore. Irritating as they were, Kagome was secretly glad of these reminders—visible and tangible, irrefutable evidence of his passion for her. Her mind could mis-remember, could bend or twist the facts or color them with her own desires, but the marks he had left upon her were proof that he had wanted her, that he had taken her—

_Almost_.

Even now Kagome wondered why he had stopped, why he _always_ seemed to stop. Like with the breaking of the seal, he was once again drawing out the fulfillment of their arrangement. And now, just as then, the reason for him delaying it eluded her.

She understood that he’d harbored a dark secret lust for her, but all of that was out in the open between them. There was nothing left for him to hold back anymore where she was concerned. And yet…she sensed somehow that he _was_ holding back—that once more they were skirting around the inevitable, spiraling slowly down into it like water circling a drain.

The impatient shake of Entei’s mane snapped her out of her musings. The sky burned red as the last light of day bled sluggishly away. Toweling herself off on the shore, Kagome dressed and mounted her questionably noble steed, heading back toward camp.

Somehow, Jakken had managed to drag Ah-Un back to the clearing. Reluctantly handing him a chunk of salted meat (which he reluctantly accepted), Kagome set to work building a fire with Entei’s help. Huddling close to the cheery warmth before her, she chewed absently on a piece of jerky while the imp and dragon began to snore, her mind dulling as she lost herself in the mesmerizing flicker of the flames.

She had no way of knowing how much time had passed when she finally looked up again. Night had fallen dark as pitch around them, but he was as bright as ever, pale skin and silver hair glowing with ghostly radiance in the moonlight. Reclining against the trunk of a tree, he had been watching her, his brilliant eyes unguarded and steady—golden as they had been when he’d hovered over her this afternoon and told her that she’d never belong to anyone else.

_Gold_ , she realized, her chin rising from the perch of her knees. _Not red…_

As her gaze met his, Sesshoumaru’s expression shuttered. Coolly, he looked away.

“Go to sleep, Kagome.”

Settling down with the softest sigh, the young miko did just that.

**xXxXxXx**

Kagome stirred, something hard poking her uncomfortably in the spine. Her first groggy thought was predictably dirty—then, she recognized the voice to which that prodding hardness was attached.

“Up, wench!”

Blue eyes flew open, alert with anger, a growl tearing from her lips as she turned, ripping the offending staff from Jakken’s pesky green hands and throwing it halfway across the clearing. The imp shrieked in outrage as he scampered after his precious nintoujou, Kagome sitting up sourly, her hair matted hotly to her cheek from using Entei’s warm belly as a pillow. As she peeled off her plastered locks, her gaze went unbidden to Sesshoumaru.

Truth be told, he looked every bit as surreally handsome in the daytime as he did at night—his silky clothes and burnished armor gleaming in the early light, his vivid markings standing out bright and crisp against his flawless marble skin. Not a muscle had twitched when the gods were carving out those chiseled features of his, that was for sure. Kagome’s stomach dropped even now as she remembered how cool and firm his lips had felt against her own—and how perfectly, _generously,_ sculpted the hidden parts of him were as well. The lingering soreness in her mouth and throat could attest to that.

_So much for cooling things off_ , she snorted inwardly.

It was hard to pinpoint who was more to blame for that, but Kagome elected to pin it on him. Looking as sinfully hot as he did seemed borderline criminal, anyway. As she finally wrangled and tied back the upper half of her unruly tresses, Sesshoumaru ran a set of ivory claws absently through a lock of his own spun silver hair, his golden eyes slanting down at her piercingly.

_Criminal, without a doubt_ , she decided, swallowing.

“Are you ready?” he asked.

Oh, she was _ready,_ all right—but that wasn’t what he was really asking…

“Just a minute,” she replied instead, rifling through her pack for her toothbrush.

After her teeth were clean, she rinsed her mouth out with a bit of water from her canteen and dug around a little deeper for her backpack’s zippered inner pocket. Opening it, she pulled out a circular case studded with a broken ring of little white pills. The ring was getting smaller and smaller with each day that went by, but Kagome tried not to dwell on it overly much as she popped out the next pill and drank it down with another swig.

Luckily, she’d gotten her prescription filled right before returning to Sengoku Jidai. She’d originally been on the pill for menstrual cramps, but given the rapidly escalating course of sexual activity in her life, she had a feeling she’d be needing the pill for its intended purpose soon enough. Conception between humans and demons was supposedly rare, but having personally _met_ several half-demons, Kagome didn’t want to take any chances.

As she turned to slip the birth control dispenser back into her pack, she found Sesshoumaru standing right behind her, studying her intensely. Kagome started, two deft claws plucking the pill case from her hand.

“What is this?” he said, giving the container a light, wary sniff.

“Medicine,” she answered evasively, “from back home.”

He looked at her levelly. “You shouldn’t eat this.”

To her horror, the pill cartridge began to disintegrate in his acidic claws.

“ _No!_ ” she gasped, reaching for it in vain as he held it aloft. “What are you doing?!”

“Destroying it,” he replied simply, as though Kagome were mentally deficient.

“I can _see_ that,” she said through gritted teeth. “But _why_?”

“It smelled like poison.”

“Well, it _wasn’t_ ,” she snapped as she dropped to a crouch, upending her pack and rooting desperately through its spilled contents. “And I don’t appreciate you ‘destroying’ my things!”

With the nearest pharmacy five hundred years away on the other side of a dormant well, Kagome felt more than a little frantic. Lifting up a pair of cherry-patterned panties, she nearly cried in relief as a brand new cartridge of pills came into view.

“Thank Kami!” she said breathlessly, clutching the pill container to her chest.

Sesshoumaru eyed her critically. “Are you ill, miko?”

“No,” she said, still looking at the pills like she was holding a winning lottery ticket in her hands.

“Then why are you so concerned about this… _medicine_?” he demanded.

Kagome blushed. “Because…”

Glancing around, she saw that Jakken appeared to be loudly and completely absorbed in the task of saddling an uncooperative Ah-Un on the other side of the clearing. Pitching her voice lower just in case, she returned the pills to her yellow sack as she busied herself with repacking the rest of her belongings in feigned nonchalance.

”…Because it’s a contraceptive.”

Steeling herself, she hazarded a peek at Sesshoumaru as she stood, dusting off the knees of her hakama. He met her gaze stoically as ever—though just for a second, she thought she detected a subtle, contemplative shift in his demeanor.

“We should depart,” he said to her at last, turning on a booted heel.

Shouldering her pack in similar contemplation, Kagome followed after him.


	17. Chapter Seventeen

**Chapter Seventeen**

As morning faded into noon, the mountain home of the northern wolf demon tribe finally appeared on the horizon. Much taller than their southern counterparts, the white-capped peaks soared high into the clouds, their flinty, jagged slopes rimed treacherously with ice and snow. This was a harsh, unwelcoming land—forbidding, even without the dark, ominous presence Kagome sensed hanging over it.

“This place gives me the creeps,” she mumbled to Entei, curling her fingers a little tighter into his rippling fire-red mane.

Scanning around for the presence of Sacred Jewel shards, Kagome sped ahead, her swift-hooved mount easily outpacing Ah-Un. So absorbed in her search, she neglected to hear Sesshoumaru’s warning until it was almost too late—Entei rearing aside at the last second as a youki barrier rose up against them. Kagome gasped as the horse youkai swerved, the side of her arm searing as it hit the barrier, her body pitching precariously to the side.

Strong hands seized her, bringing her roughly back into place. Heart-racing, she met Sesshoumaru’s stern gaze.

“S-sorry,” she said, loosening her death-grip on his pelt. “I was a little distracted.”

“Clearly.” She flinched at the cold reprimand in his tone, her shoulders slumping as he released her. “We are in enemy lands. There is no excuse for such carelessness.”

“You’re right,” she said meekly, glancing back at the activated barrier behind her—even now only discernible by the faintest glimmer of red. “What do you make of this, anyway? Do you think the wolf youkai tribe sealed the place off?”

“Doubtful,” Sesshoumaru replied in disdain.

Gliding closer to the barrier on his cloud of youki, he raised a hand just above the shimmering surface, his power sparking like lightning in the space between. His eyes narrowed.

“This is a powerful shield,” he declared. “We cannot pass through it.”

“What?! How can you be so sure?”

Taking an arrow from her quiver, Kagome channeled her reiki down the shaft as the point connected. The barrier glowed, not warping in the slightest, her power diffusing along the curved surface. Gritting her teeth, she forced even more spiritual energy into the arrow as she drove it forward, the wood bursting beneath the strain in a shower of glittering splinters.

Bashfully, she turned back to Sesshoumaru. “Okay…I’m convinced.”

By now, Jakken and Ah-Un had caught up with them. The daiyoukai’s flat stare grew flatter still as the imp hailed him.

“Milord—a barrier appears!”

“ _Geez_ , you’re late,” Kagome said, shaking her head.

Jakken glared. She watched as he extended his nintoujou toward the barrier, giving it an experimental rap. The mouth of the dried-up old lady head at the top of his staff split in an ear-piercing shriek that had him toppling from Ah-Un’s back in alarm. The imp fell with a yelp, Entei’s teeth catching him by the collar just in time.

“It seems…we are at an impasse, milord…” the imp wheezed as he swayed in midair.

“Great job figuring that one out,” Kagome muttered darkly, lowering her hands from her wounded ears.

Fist propped beneath her chin, she considered their predicament. They were still a fair distance from the summit. Following the arc of the barrier with her miko senses, she still couldn’t determine just how far and wide it extended.

“Maybe there’s a way around it,” she said after a moment.

“Perhaps,” Sesshoumaru allowed, his gaze shifting to her. “Return to the forest with Jakken. I will see if there is another route.”

Both imp and miko stared at him in protest.

“But—” she began.

“Do not argue with me. Your behavior toward this barrier has been reckless.” Jakken quailed as his lord’s steely gaze fell upon him in turn. “Yours, as well.”

“Y-yes, milord,” the imp said, hanging his head dejectedly.

Kagome frowned in contrition. “…Alright.”

Together, she and Jakken descended toward an open spot in the trees. As the imp sulked, Kagome sighed. Slipping down from Entei’s back, she fixed some lunch, which she ate sullenly, and then began to pace.

“That barrier…” she mused aloud. “It didn’t seem like Naraku’s signature…but who else could it belong to?”

“Go blabber to yourself somewhere else, human,” Jakken grumbled, reclining amidst the roots of a tree. “This Jakken is trying to rest.”

Kagome scowled over at him. Maybe she could put this downtime to good use by practicing her sealing magic—on Jakken’s mouth. Just as she was beginning to seriously entertain the idea, a faint, familiar glimmer prickled at the edges of her mind.

Inhaling sharply, she turned. “I sense the Sacred Jewel!”

“Eh?” Jakken trotted over, his bulging eyes squinting along with hers. “What’s that?”

A dustcloud swirled between the distant trees, drawing closer to them by the second.

Kagome’s eyes widened. “It’s…”

Jakken dove sideways with a frightened squeak as the cyclone blazed into the clearing, coming to an abrupt stop before Kagome. As the whirling dust and leaves dissipated, a dark-haired, feral-looking figure materialized before her.

“Ka- _gome_ -chan,” the wolf prince rumbled as he grinned, clasping her hands in both of his own. “Long time no see.”

“Kouga!” she greeted in surprise.

“ _Kouga_ , huh?” With a glint of fang, he drew her closer, one set of claws curving around her lower back. “Why so distant?”

Kagome sweatdropped. “Ah…”

“Anyway, how’ve you been?” he continued smoothly. “I don’t see that mutt hanging around. Has he finally accepted that you’re my woman?”

Kagome’s face fell as she pressed a palm to his armored chest—hoping to create some much-needed space between them. “Kouga, Inuyasha is dead. He was killed by one of Naraku’s incarnations. That’s why I’ve come here, you see—”

A clawed finger pressed gently to her lips. Kagome blinked.

“No need to say anything more, Kagome-chan,” he murmured. “I know why you’re here.”

“You…you do?” she asked incredulously.

“Yeah.” Releasing her hand, he cupped her cheek instead. “You need me to protect you—as your mate-to-be.”

Kagome paled. “Wait, that’s not—”

Out of the corner of her eye there was a brilliant flash of green. With his Jewel-powered legs, Kouga leapt back as a ribbon of youki came slashing downward, scorching straight through the ground where he’d been standing. An instant later, Sesshoumaru landed before him, drawing Tessaiga in a swathe of blinding light.

“Touch her again,” the daiyoukai said lowly, “and you will die.”

Fangs bared, Kouga glared up at Sesshoumaru from a tense, bristling crouch. “Who the hell are _you_?”

Even without her miko senses, the murderous intent radiating from the dog demon lord would have been pretty hard to miss. Slipping out from behind him, Kagome eased her way cautiously between him and Kouga, standing a little off to the side.

“This is Sesshoumaru,” she explained to the wolf demon, “Inuyasha’s brother.” At the inu daiyoukai’s abrasive look, she blushed, amending quickly, “ _Half_ -brother.”

“Half-brother, eh?” Kouga said, slanting his arms across his chest as he straightened. Sharp blue eyes glinted derisively at Sesshoumaru. “Your old man must have gotten around.”

Kagome grimaced. _Oh no…_

She had time to see Sesshoumaru’s eyes narrow before he vanished in a flicker—reappearing with Tessaiga’s point an inch above Kouga’s face. But the wolf prince was quicker, his Jewel-enhanced leg deflecting the blade as he flipped back to a safe distance.

“Must have struck a nerve,” Kouga grinned, resting a clawed hand on his own katana. “Anyway, what are you doing sniffing around _my_ Kagome? Didn’t she tell you we’re engaged?”

“We are _not!_ ” Kagome corrected hotly, stamping her foot. “Don’t just go making things up!”

“Women,” the wolf prince said to Sesshoumaru with a commiserating head shake. “Always playing hard to get.”

And now this _woman_ was advancing on him with clenched fists and a twitching brow. “ _Baka_. I’ll show you ‘hard to get’…”

Sheathing his sword, Sesshoumaru caught her by the arm. “Enough of this foolishness.” His golden eyes cut to Kouga. “The girl claims you possess two of the last remaining Shikon Jewel shards. Will you side with us in the fight against Naraku?”

Kouga considered him shrewdly. “Maybe I do, and maybe I would…but I’m kind of in the middle of something here.”

“Aiding the northern wolf demon tribe?” Kagome ventured.

The wolf prince blinked. “Yeah…but how did you know?”

“We stopped by your place, looking for you. Kiba-kun told us where you’d gone and why.”

“Oh yeah?” Kouga smiled smugly, his chest swelling with masculine pride. “So, you really _were_ searching for me, Kagome-chan. I hope those ingrates treated you right.”

“…They were very nice,” Kagome replied, wilting a little under Sesshoumaru’s baleful expression.

“Good.” The wolf prince nodded approvingly. “Well, I can fill you in on the rest of the details back at camp.” Stroking his chin, he muttered aside, “Really, you couldn’t have shown up at a better time…”

Wondering what _that_ remark could possibly mean, Kagome collected her pack and mounted Entei as Jakken finally crept out from his hiding place behind a tree. Staring hard at Kouga all the while, Sesshoumaru alighted upon Ah-Un’s back, his loyal retainer looking on in similar mistrust as the alpha wolf sauntered over to Kagome.

“Who’s this guy to you, anyway, Kagome-chan?” Kouga asked lowly, eyeing the inu daiyoukai in turn.

Kagome tensed. “Sesshoumaru? W-well, he’s—”

A flurry of relationship terms ran through her head—sex-partner? lover? _boyfriend_?—each one sounding more absurd than the last.

“—my comrade,” she finished lamely.

“‘Comrade’, huh? Well, that doesn’t sound like much of anything.” As Kagome glowered, Kouga winked, giving Entei a brisk, firm smack on the haunch. “Nice horse, by the way.”

Said horse whipped his head around at Kouga with a fiery snort and glare, the wolf prince stepping back with his palms upraised. “Easy there, nag.”

Tossing his mane, the equine youkai cantered ahead of his own accord, punctuating his dismissal of Kouga with a flick of his blazing tail. Giving Entei a wide berth, the wolf prince took the lead, the six of them setting off toward the mountain that loomed before them. As the granite grey base came into sight through the trees, the wolf prince stiffened, cursing under his breath.

“Huh? What’s that?” Kagome asked as she drew up beside him.

A white funnel of wind—much like Kouga’s own cyclone—swept through the forest, branches shearing from the trees in its tempestuous wake. Glancing over at Sesshoumaru, she saw that his hackles were raised as well. As the whirlwind barreled toward them, Kouga took up a defensive stance before Kagome and Entei, a low growl of annoyance escaping his lips.

“ _Kouga-onii-samaaaa!_ ” a pair of familiar voices cried out plaintively. Looking past the white twister, Kagome could just make out Ginta and Hakkaku’s sprinting forms.

“You idiots!” Kouga shouted. “I told you to keep her distracted!”

“We’re sorry—we tried!”

“Please forgive us!”

 _Her?_ Kagome wondered as the cyclone drew to an abrupt stop, a wolfish-looking girl with two long side-tails of red hair standing in the calm thereafter.

“Distract me from what?” she asked, her bright green eyes shifting from Kouga’s pack mates to Kagome and her group. “Kouga-kun, who are these people?”

“Hi,” the young miko said with a small friendly wave, happy to finally be in the company of a fellow female, “I’m Kagome. That guy over there is Sess—”

“KAGOME!” the wolf-girl exclaimed, her face flooding red as she stabbed a finger toward the miko in accusation. “ _You’re_ Kagome?!”

Kagome shrank back from this unexpected hostility. “Er, h-have we met…?”

Releasing a long-suffering sigh, Kouga turned toward the baffled priestess. “Kagome-chan, this is Ayame. She’s—”

“Kouga-kun’s _fiancée_ ,” the demoness interjected, claws planting fiercely on her hips as she glared the other girl down. “You _homewrecker_!”

Kagome blanched as the forest went silent, every set of eyes fixing upon her for what felt like miles around.

 _Well_ , she thought, this _is awkward…_

“First off,” the miko said, raising a terse finger. “I’m not a ‘homewrecker’. Second off, congratulations on your engagement, Ayame-san.”

The wolf demoness blinked, promptly deflating. “Huh?” Green eyes turned to Kouga in confusion. “Did she just _congratulate_ us…?”

“Nothing to congratulate,” Kouga barked, crossing his arms stubbornly over his chest. “I never agreed to marry you.”

 _And I never agreed to marry_ you _!_ Kagome thought with a glare.

“Yes, you did!” Ayame cried, her clawed foot creating a small crater in the ground where she brought it down. “You _promised_ me, Kouga-kun. On the night of the—”

“‘Lunar rainbow’,” Kouga finished flatly. “Yeah, yeah, you’ve told me that a dozen times before, but I still don’t remember. Anyway, it doesn’t matter. Kagome-chan’s just being nice to you because you’re acting like a brat, but _she’s_ the woman I’m gonna wed—not _you_.”

“Stop. Saying. _That_ ,” Kagome ground out, her hand itching dangerously close to her bow and quiver.

“See!” Ayame pointed toward her angrily. “She’s not interested in you, Kouga-kun. And even if she was, she’s just a human. You can’t take a human for a mate! So give it up, already!”

“Who says I can’t?” Kouga growled back, shoving his face into hers. “I don’t care that Kagome’s a human—I love her, and that’s all that matters to me.”

The young miko’s posture relaxed a fraction, Kouga’s words striking her as sweetly touching despite everything. Unconsciously, her eyes strayed to Sesshoumaru, who was currently staring up at the sky in barely concealed annoyance. Her lips sagged in a frown.

“The Elder will never allow it!” Ayame argued, knocking her forehead against Kouga’s. “He’s already consented to our union.”

“That’s because he’s your _grandpa_! He’ll go along with whatever you want. Can’t say I blame him—if I had to put up with your bullshit everyday, I’d be beaten down too!”

“…That’s not true,” Ayame whimpered, tears welling in her jade-colored eyes. “I would be good to you, Kouga-kun.”

Kouga drew back guiltily, scratching the back of his neck. Behind Ayame, Ginta and Hakkaku were blinking back tears as well.

“Well…” the wolf prince said awkwardly, his brow furrowing as he seemed to be wracking his brain for some sort of excuse. “Sorry to disappoint you, Ayame, but I made up my mind a long time ago—long before I met you. The woman I marry has to be able to detect Sacred Jewel shards, and Kagome-chan’s the only one who can.”

“ _What?!_ ” the young miko and Ayame exclaimed together. _How flimsy of an excuse is that?!_

“ _Also_ ,” Kouga said, a sly grin pulling at his lips as he tilted up his chin, “she and I have already slept together, so that makes her mine.”

Kagome’s jaw dropped—Ayame’s, Ginta’s, Hakkaku’s, and even _Jakken’s_ jaws dropping open as well. And now Sesshoumaru _was_ looking at her—his golden gaze scorching into her like a laser beam of searing, unadulterated hostility.

“ _YOU_ ,” Ayame seethed in accusation, the pure murder in her voice making Kagome flinch, “slept with _MY_ fiancé?!”

“ _No!_ ” the miko cried, looking desperately between her and Sesshoumaru as if trying to determine who was the frying pan and who was the fire. “Never! Absolutely not!” Blood boiling, she glared at the wolf prince. “ _Kouga_! How could you say such a thing?!”

Cool as a cucumber, Kouga smirked back. “Because it’s true—we _have_ slept together. Don’t deny you’ve shared my bed, Kagome-chan.”

“Shared your…!” Kagome spluttered, her face alternating between stark white and beet red. “Oh. Wait…you mean…but that’s—that’s not the same thing at all!”

“Explain how it’s different, human!” Ayame cried, a pale, high wind rising up around her. “Did you sleep with him or not?!”

“T-technicallly—but, wait, just hear me out—”

“ _Technically!_ ” the wolf demoness growled, unsheathing the katana at her hip. “Forget it—I’m done listening to you!”

Entei feinted to the side as Ayame lunged, his superior speed literally saving Kagome’s neck. As he took to the air, the wolf girl changed tactics, aiming a barrage of razor-sharp throwing leaves straight at the miko’s face. Entei dove and swerved expertly to avoid them, Kagome struggling to hold on to her lunch as Kouga thankfully sprang to her aid.

“Hey, Ayame—cut it out!” he barked, reeling back with a bloody nose as the raging demoness bashed her forehead against it.

“Don’t you dare try to stop me!” she snarled. “I’m gonna _kill_ this good-for-nothing tramp!”

Kagome’s stomach dropped. Counting on any help from Sesshoumaru was out of the question—judging by the way his youki was scalding her even from this distance, just making eye contact with him right now would probably be a guaranteed death sentence. She would just have to rely on her own powers of persuasion—and the _truth_ , of course, which was absolutely, frustratingly on her side…

“Listen, Ayame-san—ugh!” she began, her teeth clashing as Entei lurched to the left. “What I mean is—yes—I _technically_ slept with him— _yikes!_ —as in—we slept in the same bed— _yoww!_ ” she gasped as one of the leaf-blades nicked her cheek despite her horse friend’s swift maneuvering. “ _Fully_ clothed!”

Breathing heavily, Ayame paused, a razor-edged leaf still poised in her hand. “What?” she snapped. “But, why…”

Panting, Kagome pointed damningly toward the still doubled-over wolf prince. “Because _he_ kidnapped me and put me there!”

Once more the forest fell silent, all eyes turning now to Kouga—who suddenly seemed to have a lot more to contend with than a broken nose, as Sesshoumaru’s steely claws pinned him by the throat.

Kagome gasped in alarm.

Face bloody and back against a tree, Kouga snarled raggedly, his claws biting into Sesshoumaru’s stony arm as the inu daiyoukai trapped him close—rendering his super-powered legs effectively useless.

“What the _fuck_ , _”_ Kouga seethed, “is _your_ problem?”

As Sesshoumaru’s claws dug deeper, tingeing venom-green, Ginta, Hakakku and Ayame ran forward, one fierce growl from the dog demon lord freezing them all in place. Kouga yelped in pain as the other wolves shrank helplessly back from Sesshoumaru in clear, canine intimidation. Thankfully immune to this alpha dog effect, Kagome all but tumbled from Entei as the horse youkai set her down close by.

“Sesshoumaru, stop!” she gasped, both her arms wrapping around his bulging, silk-covered bicep. “You’re going to kill him!”

Golden eyes burned viciously into Kouga’s. “ _Good._ ”

Desperately, Kagome tried to figure out what was going through his head—a task that was near-impossible for her even when she _wasn’t_ in a state of absolute panic. “He—you think he took advantage of me while I was his captive, is that it…?”

“…What?!” Kouga rasped, his frantic blue eyes narrowing in outrage. “ _Hell_ _no!_ ”

Kagome nodded eagerly. “He’s right, Sesshoumaru—he never did anything like that! Kouga’s not a rapist,” she said, her expression flattening as she felt Sesshoumaru’s hold ease slightly. “…He’s just an idiot.”

“Wolf,” the inu daiyoukai demanded icily, “you never forced yourself upon the girl?”

“ _Fuck_ no!” Kouga snapped, wheezing as the pressure at his throat finally let up enough for him to speak more than two words at a time. “…I’d never ‘force’ Kagome-chan—or any other woman for that matter!”

Kouga sagged against the tree as Sesshoumaru dropped him in distaste, a shared sigh of relief rising up from the gathered crowd. The daiyoukai’s claws cracked as he continued to glare down at the wolf prince, who choked and spluttered angrily while massaging his bruised throat. Releasing her hold on Sesshoumaru’s arm, Kagome went at once to Kouga’s side, Ayame rushing forward to take up the other.

“Kouga-kun!” the miko cried. “Are you all right?”

“ _Fine_ …” the wolf demon breathed, staring balefully at Sesshoumaru. “You’re a hell of a lot stronger than you look…”

Dismissing him with a frosty glance, Sesshoumaru turned to Kagome. “Are you _certain_ he never touched you?”

“Nope, no inappropriate physical contact whatsoever,” the miko affirmed, raising her hands palm-first. “Kouga-kun was a perfect gentleman during the whole kidnapping ordeal.” At the wolf youkai’s carefully averted gaze, she blanched. “…Right?”

At his other side, Ayame stilled as well, both women leveling their full, pointed attention upon the evasive wolf prince.

“Well,” he muttered, looking askance, “those strange clothes you used to wear _were_ rather revealing, Kagome-chan…”

A vein throbbed in Kagome’s temple. “Are you…are you saying that you _looked up my skirt?!_ ”

“…I’m not proud of it,” the wolf prince grumbled defensively.

“ _Pervert!_ ” Kagome and Ayame both yelled, clocking him simultaneously as Sesshoumaru’s aura darkened once again.

“Wolves—so low-bred,” Jakken remarked with a shake of his head, Ginta and Hakkuku clocking him as well.

It was in this state of all-around tension and barely-contained hostility that the nine of them continued on to the wolf youkai camp at the base of the mountain. Slung grouchily across the shoulders of his pack mates, Kouga coughed and glared intermittently over at the inu daiyoukai, who was still radiating violence. About every couple of seconds, Kagome glanced over at him as well, half-scared and half-excited by his dark temper, pushing aside her stark misgivings about her mental state as she anticipated the possibility of him venting those frustrations out on _her_ once again. Ayame, on the other hand, seemed to be dividing her time between glaring daggers at her fiancé and his “other woman” as if _she_ were the source of all problems—which, Kagome supposed, was _technically_ true.

 _Ugh, I’m so sick of technicalities_ , she groaned to herself, noting without surprise that Jakken was glowering at everyone except his precious lord—whom he was cleverly avoiding by sitting practically on Ah-Un’s tail, at what Kagome suspected was the outermost radius of the kill zone.

It was nearly sunset by the time their ragtag group trudged into the campsite: a smattering of hide tents and fire pits, with two-legged and four-legged wolves lounging about. Entei gave a low, disgruntled whinny as they approached—clearly, he was not a fan of wolf-kind. Kagome couldn’t say they ranked particularly high on _her_ list at the moment, either.

Slipping down gracelessly from the horse youkai’s simmering back, she quickly found herself revising that opinion as a pure white wolf of the four-legged variety promptly turned her heart to mush. Shaggy-furred and clearly ancient, the old canine was sitting up on his haunches at perfect doggy attention, his expression so adorably grave that Kagome hurried over to him at once.

“Hey, there!” she gushed, dropping down and ruffling his chipped, fuzzy ears. “How sweet are you! Aww…you have such cute little whiskers!”

“Hello,” the wolf said gruffly in reply, his heavy brow drooping further.

“KYAAH!” Kagome exclaimed, pitching back onto her rear as a furious blush stole over her cheeks. “I—I’m so sorry. I didn’t realize you could talk…”

Distantly, she thought she heard Sesshoumaru sigh.

Stepping between her and the aged wolf, Ayame stared down at Kagome with her arms crossed in indignation.

“That’s my _gramps_ you’re petting, human!”


	18. Chapter Eighteen

**Chapter Eighteen**

“Y-your grandpa?” Kagome stammered apologetically. “You mean, you guys just change into regular wolves? When Sesshoumaru transforms, he turns into this big, ugly, poison-mouthed monster-dog.”

The inu daiyoukai glared.

“ _Regular_ wolves,” Ayame returned hotly, her auburn brow twitching at the perceived slight. “You should show some respect, human—my gramps here is the Elder of _all_ the wolf youkai tribes.”

“S-sure,” Kagome agreed, glancing over at the elder wolf curiously. “Er…just how old _is_ he?”

“…About two thousand or so,” the demoness answered, inspecting her claws.

Kagome gaped. “Two thousand…YEARS?!”

“I _can_ speak for myself, you know,” Ayame’s grandfather grumbled, padding forward. “Tell me, miko, why have you come to us?”

“Well, we came here looking for Kouga-kun, actually,” Kagome replied. “We were hoping he would fight with us against our common enemy, Naraku—but I understand he’s already helping you guys out here?”

“That is correct,” the old wolf nodded somberly. “Our sacred mountain has been overrun by our own undead brethren.”

“Your brethren?” Kagome frowned, as Ayame looked away grimly.

“About a week ago, a mysterious wind tore through our lands, killing a large number of our kin,” the wolf demoness said, “but almost as soon as our brothers died, they rose up again and turned against us—along with anyone else they happened to kill. In the end, the few of us who were left had no choice but to flee. That’s why I went to Kouga-kun for help.”

“It’s all that bitch Kagura’s doing, I’m sure of it,” Kouga growled as he stormed over, flicking the last flakes of dried blood from his healed nose.

“It _does_ sound like her style,” Kagome conceded. “But what about that barrier around the mountain—I’m assuming you guys didn’t place it?”

“The barrier arose shortly after we abandoned our home,” the wolf elder explained. “By the time young Kouga arrived, we were sealed out completely.”

“I see…” Kagome said, her eyes glittering with purpose. “Then, we’ll just have to find a way to bring it down.”

The elder wolf blinked, Ayame and Kouga as well. “…You will aid us, miko?”

“Of course—”

“ _No_.”

Starting, Kagome turned to find Sesshoumaru standing at her shoulder, his expression coolly forbidding. As her face fell, he hauled her up by the collar and pushed her behind him, Kouga’s expression souring at the sight.

“We are not here to assist you in this fight,” the inu daiyoukai stated. “Our battle is with Naraku.”

“But, Sesshoumaru,” Kagome pressed, gripping his sleeve, “I know we don’t sense his youki, but what if Naraku really is behind all this?”

Golden eyes slanted back at her. “Mere speculation. All we know for certain,” Sesshoumaru said, his gaze settling darkly on Kouga, “is that this wolf possesses shards of the Sacred Jewel.”

Kouga stiffened, his eyes sharpening. “What are you angling at, dog?”

“Join with us,” Sesshoumaru said as he advanced, dragging Kagome along with him, “or surrender your shards.”

“Sesshoumaru!” the miko gasped, releasing him.

“Are you threatening me?” Kouga growled, lips pulling back from his fangs as the other wolves around them bared their teeth as well. “Because I don’t respond well to threats.”

“Hold _on_ , you two,” Kagome bit out, her bow smacking Kouga in the chin as she wedged between them, facing Sesshoumaru with her fists clenched at her sides. Why she always found herself sandwiched between two or more feuding demons would never cease to amaze her. “If you’ll both stop acting so macho for a minute, I think we can come to a compromise here.”

“‘Macho’?” Ginta asked in confusion, looking over at Hakkaku, who shrugged.

Sesshoumaru stared at her in silent demand, a little of the wind going out of Kagome’s sails.

“It’s another term from the movies,” she explained, a blush creeping across her cheeks as his eyes simmered in recognition at that last word, sending her perverted mouth running off the rails. “…Maybe I can tell you more about it, later.”

“Hn,” Sesshoumaru nodded, schooling his gaze.

“I think they’re speaking in code,” Ayame remarked to her grandfather in suspicion.

“Anyway,” the miko blustered on, turning to Kouga, “if we help you and your fellow wolves reclaim the mountain, will you agree to fight with us against Naraku?”

Rubbing his still-smarting chin, the wolf prince took a moment to consider. “I suppose that’s only fair…especially if it’s for _you_ , Kagome-chan.”

Rolling her eyes, she turned back to Sesshoumaru with a confident smile. “So, how does that sound to you?”

“Untenable,” the daiyoukai replied, Kagome deflating visibly at the decisiveness in his tone. “We have no means of bringing down such a barrier. Until it dispels, we would be at a stalemate—idle and vulnerable, allowing our true enemies the luxury to move against us.”

“But that’s just it,” Kagome said softly, holding his gaze. “I think we _do_ have a means of destroying that barrier. Or rather, _you_ do.”

His eyes followed hers down, to the battered sword at his side.

**xXxXxXx**

“Tessaiga,” Sesshoumaru said, his claws curving around the frayed hilt as he regarded her closely. “You believe the sword to have this power?”

“Yep,” the girl said, smiling slightly. “Inuyasha used it to break through Naraku’s barrier once before.”

His eyes narrowed. “How?”

“With its other form—the Red Tessaiga,” she explained, her blue eyes gleaming. “Inuyasha was able to transform it into a shield-breaker by absorbing the power from the barrier gem of the southern bat youkai tribe.”

“ _Taigokumaru_ allowed this?” Sesshoumaru asked dubiously.

Even amongst demons, the bat daiyoukai was outspoken in his hatred of humans—and half-breeds. Sesshoumaru had once been on amicable terms with his late son and heir, a friendship which had promptly ended once he learned that Tsukuyomaru had taken a mortal as his wife.

The girl shook her head. “No, his granddaughter Shiori gave the gem to Inuyasha—after we defeated Taigokumaru.”

Sesshoumaru’s gaze fell to the sword. He had always underestimated his younger brother, assuming him to be weak. Weren’t half-demons notoriously inferior—humans, even more so? And yet, Inuyasha and Tsukuyomaru’s daughter, along with the miko, had brought down a daiyoukai as powerful as Taigokumaru…

“So, you’re saying that the mutt’s sword should be able to take down this barrier as well,” the wolf concluded, his simple mind clearly straining to follow the logic of the conversation.

“Yes—I believe so,” the girl replied patiently.

“Heh.” Grimy claws ground into an even grimier palm. “Sounds like a plan to me. And once that barrier’s broken, I’m gonna introduce that whore of Naraku’s to a whole new world of pain.”

Sesshoumaru doubted this sincerely. Still, if what the girl said was true, he saw nothing to prevent him from unlocking this second form of Tessaiga. The sooner he brought down the mountain barrier, the sooner they could leave this accursed place.

“Right,” Kagome said, joining in the wolf’s enthusiasm, “and then it’s on to Naraku himself!”

“With my woman at my side,” Kouga added proudly, Tessaiga’s worn hilt fraying even more beneath the clench of Sesshoumaru’s claws.

The girl stared flatly. “That wasn’t part of the compromise.”

It was only her clear disinterest that had spared the wolf’s life thus far. Though the shards embedded in his legs increased his speed, Kouga was far from the daiyoukai’s equal. At least the girl seemed to recognize this much, with her thinly-veiled propositioning.

 _Yet another incentive to be done with this as soon as possible,_ Sesshoumaru reflected.

Unsheathing Tessaiga, the sword transformed at once in his hand. As humiliating as it was, he had only to _think_ of the girl now for the fang to respond—further proof that his father’s perverse sense of humor endured with him still.

The wolves and the rest crowded around as he approached the barrier, bending his mind to the blade. Tessaiga glowed with his power, its color shifting from silver to gold. He envisioned a weak spot in the shield before him and focused upon it, the sword’s color deepening still.

“Shit, he’s really gonna do this,” Kouga muttered in awe.

Sesshoumaru scoffed inwardly as Tessaiga pulsed in his hand— _warningly_. He had a moment to blink before the sword flared violently, and he dropped it with a snarl.

“Sesshoumaru!” the miko cried, running forward and cradling his singed, blackened palm in her own. “What happened?!”

“Looks like the mutt’s sword doesn’t take to him so well. Maybe I should give it a try,” the wolf remarked as he strolled over, Sesshoumaru making no move to stop him as he attempted to pick up the sword—the untransformed Tessaiga sparking viciously in his unworthy hand. “ _FUCK!_ What the hell’s wrong with this thing?!”

“Kouga-kun, you shouldn’t touch what doesn’t belong to you,” the girl scolded.

On that point, Sesshoumaru agreed with her entirely. As his own pain faded, he watched in dark satisfaction as the wolf attempted to soothe his scalded claws.

“Now what?” Kouga demanded, glaring over at Sesshoumaru, who glared back.

“It’s been a long day,” the girl said tiredly. “A _really_ long day. Why don’t we just give this another shot tomorrow?”

“Seems to me like your plan’s not going to work,” the Elder’s granddaughter grumbled.

“It _will_ work, Ayame-san,” Kagome countered, her determined gaze returning to the daiyoukai’s. “I believe in Sesshoumaru.”

Once more he wondered about his brother, about his victories and his ultimate defeat. The girl’s presence had been the common thread underlying each and every one of his successes, it seemed. All that Inuyasha had achieved, he had achieved because of her. Could there be true power in this unyielding faith of hers? As he looked down into her beautiful face, so resolute and wholly focused upon him, for a moment, Sesshoumaru allowed himself to believe that this was true.

“…And anyway,” she said, turning back to the gathered wolves with a wry grin, “what other choice do we have?”

**xXxXxXx**

That night, as the night before, Sesshoumaru watched her sleep. Perched on a high branch, sufficiently elevated from the wolf stench permeating the campsite below, he studied the profile of her face by the faint light of the moon. It was easier to look at her this way—when the world was silent, and _she_ was silent.

Curled against the horse youkai’s flank, she breathed deeply, evenly. Her soft lips parted slightly, her long dark lashes fluttering delicately above her silvered cheeks. She was dreaming, it seemed, though what a human could possibly dream of he could not begin to know. Mortal lives were so fleeting—a spark in the tinder, ignited and extinguished in the breadth of a moment.

Perhaps it was this—this fierce, consuming brightness that appealed to his kind. Youkai lives were long, possibly limitless. Inured by the centuries, to see a lifetime compressed before their eyes—all the passion, the violence, the loss and the love, played out in a mere handful of years—would be a strange and fascinating sight to behold.

Sesshoumaru’s gaze slid to Kouga, snoring loudly in the midst of his flea-ridden pack. The daiyoukai could see why the wolf was so besotted with the girl. She was stunning and strong, compassionate and courageous. For soft-hearted fools like Kouga and Tsukuyomaru—like the Inu no Taishou, Sesshoumaru’s own father—this was enough to cast aside common sense and tradition. To throw honor and reason to the wind and wed themselves to women who were fundamentally unsuitable, who would give them only half-breed children and heartache in their demise.

To love a human was to discard one’s own immortality, to embrace weakness and welcome death. To love a miko, who would live only that much longer, who would fade out only that much deeper, was to consign oneself even more to the inevitable doom her absence would bring.

Sesshoumaru had never been weak, and he had no intention of dying—now or ever.

Drawing Tessaiga, he laid the bare blade in his palms. Its rusted, pitted surface gleamed dully in the moonlight. A weapon crafted to defend humankind—considering this, he supposed that its decrepit appearance was fitting. And yet beneath that unimpressive surface, such vast power was contained.

The girl had an undeniable connection with this sword. After all, she had been the one to pull Tessaiga from its resting place. He sensed even now that the fang was merely observing her wishes—grudgingly releasing its power to him for the sake of her protection.

His father had considered him unfit to wield this blade—of that, Sesshoumaru was certain. The Inu no Taishou had made clear before his death that Inuyasha was to inherit Tessaiga. Even the bestowing of Tenseiga to his elder son had struck Sesshoumaru as more of a reprimand than a gift.

Long before his father had forsaken his mother and married Izayoi, Sesshoumaru had resented him. He had viewed the Inu no Taishou as lax and undisciplined, reckless—the generosity and good humor others praised him for Sesshoumaru had seen as the effusions of his foolhardy nature. And his father in turn had derided him for his cold arrogance and narrow-mindedness—drolly remarking to anyone who would listen that Sesshoumaru could scarcely see beyond his own snout.

Even now, the recollections rankled him. After his near-death defeat at Inuyasha’s hands, Sesshoumaru had been forced to concede that he was lacking in some way. He had striven to look beyond—at Tenseiga’s urging, he had taken Rin under his protection. Forgoing his pride, he had gone to the miko to restore his arm. He had survived against Mouryoumaru where his brother had failed. He had inherited both of his father’s swords in the end, and he had not fate, not the gods, not even himself to thank for it.

Gazing past Tessaiga, his eyes fell to Kagome once again. Her hand rested beside her fair face, her fingers so small and frail compared to his own. She was as much a mystery to him now as she had ever been—a human paradox, baffling and captivating. And it was only with great difficulty that he tore his eyes away from her at last.

**xXxXxXx**

For the third time that morning, Sesshoumaru dropped the flaming sword with a scowl.

“Oh no,” the miko whispered anxiously to the horse beside her, “it happened again…”

“Mi-milord…?” Jakken ventured nervously from her other side.

Checking them both with a glance, he bent to retrieve Tessaiga, a tendril of smoke rising from his scorched palm. Sesshoumaru’s frown deepened as the blade glinted stubbornly back.

Drumming his claws atop a rock on the opposite side of the clearing, with his female standing guard as if the miko might pounce on him at any moment, Kouga stretched and smirked. “Attacking yourself doesn’t seem to be doing much good, Sesshoumaru.” His knuckles cracked. “Maybe that sword of yours is looking for a real fight.”

“I doubt killing _you_ would make any difference to Tessaiga,” the daiyoukai replied in cool disdain.

The wolf’s expression darkened, a muscle twitching in his jaw. “Don’t make it sound so easy…”

“But it would be,” Sesshoumaru returned loftily, baiting him out of spite. “I need not even dirty the blade.”

Kouga’s lip curled. “ _You_ …”

“…Hey, who wants some lunch?” the miko interjected over-brightly.

“Suits me,” Kouga grumbled, directing one last baleful look at Sesshoumaru as he slid off the rock. “Not much to see here, anyway.”

As the wolves traipsed back to the campsite, the girl lingered, blue eyes glittering up at him in concern. “Don’t push yourself too hard, okay?”

Sesshoumaru’s gaze sharpened. The last thing he needed was to be coddled by _her_.

“Go back to camp,” he said, his eyes cutting to the imp who was likewise hovering at his heels. “ _You_ , as well.”

Wounded, the pair of them trudged off, a bit of Sesshoumaru’s tension lifting in their absence. While he was not averse to displaying his power, being successively thwarted by this damnable sword was not a sight he wished for others to witness—particularly the girl. Her incessant worrying grated on what little remained of his patience.

Facing the mountain once more, he closed his eyes, placing himself into a meditative state. He felt the flow of the wind around him, heard the rustle of the branches, scented the crisp chill of the air. He acknowledged and dismissed these sensations in turn. And in his mind’s eye, the barrier drew into focus—red and shimmering, a curved seamless wall of youki.

As Tessaiga transformed in his hand, he flooded it with his power, seeking to overwhelm it and bend it to the task. The forms the sword could take were many. He could see this now, and he narrowed in on the one he sought—

“ _Kouga-kun!_ Did you use _all_ the soy sauce?!”

“Yeah…? You gave it to me, Kagome-chan.”

“So that you could use _some_. Some!”

Gritting his fangs, Sesshoumaru cracked open his eyes, the sword returning to its resting state as he glared down at the campsite below. Arms crossed, the girl was staring accusingly at the wolf, who held a strange, empty jar in one hand and a strange, darkly brimming cup in the other.

“Your ramen is drowning in soy sauce—does that seem _right_ to you?” she bit out.

Kouga scratched his head. “How should I know? Anyway, it smells good…”

She cringed as the wolf drained the contents of the cup in one gulp. Licking his lips, he grinned broadly.

“Kagome-chan—that was great!” His eyes slanted to the wolf Elder’s granddaughter. “You could teach Ayame a thing or two. Her stew tastes like boiled leather.”

“Hmph!” Flinging her own cup aside, the offended demoness stalked away.

“Kouga-kun, you shouldn’t insult a woman’s cooking,” the miko chided, looking after Ayame in sympathy. “And anyway, considering what you just ate, it should be Kikkoman doing the teaching…”

The wolf blinked. “Who’s ‘Kikkoman’?”

As the girl launched into what would no doubt be a largely nonsensical diatribe, Sesshoumaru strode off in frustration. Reluctant as he was to leave her with that idiot wolf, he needed to put some distance between himself and her…distractions.

A few miles into the wilderness, he paused, unsheathing Tessaiga yet again. For the next few hours, he attempted to force the sword into its second form, without success. As his hand began to sear beneath Tessaiga’s latest refusal, he snapped the fang back into its scabbard with a seething growl and returned to camp.

The moment he set foot there, he realized she was gone.

The wolves were napping in a mangy pile. Snatching Kouga up by the chest plate, he snarled into his startled face.

“ _Where is she?_ ”

“What—what the hell are you talking about?” the wolf shot back angrily.

“ _Kagome_.” Glowing green claws melted through the metal. “ _She is gone._ ”

Kouga was alert in an instant. “ _Gone?!_ ” Jumping to his feet, he kicked at his drowsy pack mates. “Get up, you lazy bums! Who saw where Kagome-chan went?”

Out of the corner of his eye, Sesshoumaru watched Jakken edge apprehensively behind Ah-Un, but it was the Elder’s granddaughter who spoke up at last.

“…She flew east on that horse of hers.”

Ayame shrank back as Sesshoumaru appeared just before her.

“When?” he demanded.

The demoness swallowed, her voice faint and wavering. “It was a while ago…”

Sesshoumaru’s muscles tensed. Without another word, he took to the sky.

**xXxXxXx**

_Meanwhile…_

“…So this guy Kikkoman has an army of underlings who travel the world delivering these flasks to his patrons?” Kouga summarized, looking thoughtfully at the empty soy sauce bottle in his hand.

Kagome nodded. “That’s the gist of it, yeah.” Her brow furrowed. “Except, well, I’m pretty sure he’s dead by now…”

The wolf prince grinned. “Dead and still at it, huh? The demons where you’re from are something else, Kagome-chan.”

The young miko smiled back, deciding to just leave it at that.

“Hey, Ginta, Hakkaku—get over here!” Kouga called out to his pack mates, who rose from the pelts they’d been lounging on and hurried over. “There’s a guy I need you to track down for me…”

Shaking her head, Kagome turned, glancing up at the forested ridge where Sesshoumaru had been practicing with Tessaiga—only to find that he was no longer there. With a frown, she ascended the ridge and looked around some more, but the daiyoukai was nowhere in sight. Sitting down on a low slab of granite, she watched the mountain breeze shiver through the needles of the fir trees, the faint outline of the barrier glowing through the gaps in-between.

It was hard for her to watch Sesshoumaru struggle with Tessaiga. Kagome got the impression that he wasn’t accustomed to such failure—with a name like his, she could only assume. Once more, she felt as though she’d thrown another wrench into his life, and though she wished more than anything that she could help him, she knew that there was little she could do. If Sesshoumaru was going to master Tessaiga, he would have to figure it out for himself.

She supposed that was why he’d taken off on his own just now. Still, she couldn’t help but be anxious not knowing where he was. Eager to take her mind off of her worrying, Kagome went back to camp.

Kouga and most of the other wolves were already taking a post-lunch nap when she returned. Only Ayame was awake. Perched on the old stony stump of a tree, she gazed down at the iris flower in her hand. Hesitantly, Kagome approached her.

“Ayame-san?” she began. “I’m sorry about earlier…with the ramen and all. Kouga-kun shouldn’t have said those things.”

Green eyes flicked to her sharply. “You really don’t care for him, do you?”

Kagome’s gaze strayed over to the snoozing wolf prince. “Not in that way, no. Kouga-kun’s just a friend to me. That’s how it’s always been.”

Dismally, Ayame nodded. “Well, even so, he’s clearly hung up on you.”

“I’m sure he’ll move on, eventually,” Kagome replied, biting her lip.

As Ayame went back to studying the flower, the miko sank down next to her, disturbing a sleepy wolf pup nearby. Whimpering, the pup wriggled into Kagome’s arms, and she smiled a bit as she stroked its velvety brow. She hoped that Shippou and the others were doing okay, back in Edo village. Already Kagome had been gone longer than intended, and she prayed that they weren’t worrying too much…

“Kouga-kun said that the woman he marries has to be able to detect the Shikon Jewel,” Ayame said after a while, glancing hopefully at Kagome. “Will you teach me how?”

Kagome frowned. “I would if I could, Ayame-san. But I wouldn’t even know where to start. No one taught me how to do it—I was just born with it, I guess.”

The wolf girl’s eyes hardened as she looked away. “I see.”

“Ayame-san…”

“Please,” the demoness said curtly, turning away altogether, “just leave me alone.”

Gently sliding the dozing wolf pup from her lap, Kagome stood, crossing over to the other side of camp with a sigh. At her approach, Entei lifted his head from the lichen he’d been chewing. As she climbed atop his back, slitted yellow eyes peered up at her.

“Where do you think _you_ are going, wench?” the imp asked imperiously, Ah-Un snoring smokily at his back.

Kagome scowled down at him. “What are you, my keeper? I’m just going for a ride. I won’t be gone long.”

Before he could squawk at that, she and Entei took flight. Her hair whipped behind her like a banner as they soared high into the sky, the campsite shrinking to the size of a coin beneath them. For a while they just circled above it, Kagome relishing the cool air and the freedom.

Gliding lower at last, she strained her eyes for a glimpse of Sesshoumaru, but just as she’d anticipated, he was nowhere to be found. Idly, she headed east, just thinking of turning back toward camp when a glimmer atop a towering outcrop of rock snared her attention.

“ _Onsen!_ ” she exclaimed in delight as Entei flew lower, a shimmer of unmistakable steam misting the air.

Feeling like she’d just hit the jackpot, Kagome touched down onto the smoothly worn ledge of the spring. A hot bath was just what she needed—and such a secluded spot! There were a few fuzzy monkeys staring at her warily from the far side, but they seemed harmless enough, Kagome ignoring them as she stripped down and dug through her pack for a bottle of shampoo.

“Ahh,” she sighed in bliss, slipping down into the balmy water.

As she lathered her hair, the little primates’ curiosity seemed to outweigh their suspicion. Creeping over, they chattered and poked at her discarded clothes, a fiery stamp from Entei sending them scampering off again as their dark puny fingers attempted to rifle through her backpack.

Laughing at their antics, Kagome finished her bath and waded over to the edge of the pool. Her muscles had turned to putty in the soothing heat, her eyelids drooping as she rested her cheek on her folded arms. Little monkey fingers preened and pulled at her damp hair, Kagome batting them away sleepily as she drifted off at last.

She’d only meant to doze for a minute—maybe she had? But the next thing she knew, the monkeys were screeching in terror, a frightened scream tearing from her own lips as she was ripped bodily from the spring.


	19. Chapter Nineteen

**Chapter Nineteen**

Kagome’s hands flew out before her as she was pushed against a smooth wall of stone, her skin heating reflexively—ready to purify the life out of her would-be assailant. As the claws around her arms tightened in a familiar grip, her initial shock cleared, and she quickly reined her power in.

“What made you  _think_ ,” Sesshoumaru snarled into her ear, “that you could go off on your own?”

“I-I’m sorry,” she whispered, her bare shoulder blades chilling against his armor as she melted into him in submission. “I wasn’t thinking.”

A bit of his hostility eased at the gesture, his now-unmasked youki still pulsing from him in angry waves. Guiltily, Kagome considered his point of view, suspecting that his concern for her was at the root of that anger—her guilt promptly intensifying as desire bloomed within her at the thought.

“You foolish girl,” he said lowly, his hands sliding down the sides of her wet, flushed body in perfect slowness. “I should have known better than to let you out of my sight.”

Kagome nodded faintly in agreement as his claws settled at last, curving possessively around her hips. She arched needfully back into him, her burning heat pressing against the cool, upraised surface of his lower plate.

“Miko,” he rumbled in reproach, even as he spread and pulled her further into him, “you are dampening my armor.”

She nodded again, gliding a little higher up along the plate. Sesshoumaru growled as he shoved her back against the stone, the sound of his armor clanging against the ledge making her start.

Crooking her knee, he forced her leg up against the wall before her, his fangs biting into the swell of her hind cheek. Kagome gasped at the stab of pain and arousal that lanced through her, her lower half throbbing as his nose skirted the inside of her thigh, his hot breath fanning over her exposed sex.

“This,” he murmured just above her dripping core, her whole body shuddering as he tasted her in one long, lingering stroke, “is what I have craved.”

Kagome whimpered, his other hand holding her still at the hip as he licked her slowly again. In her entire seventeen years on this earth, she’d never felt anything remotely as good as what he did to her with his mouth. Her fingers curled fruitlessly against the worn rock when his tongue thrust inside her, grating deliciously along her slickened walls. She strove just as fruitlessly to bear down on him, desperate to take that rough probing muscle of his as far into her as possible.

“Oh, Sesshoumaru…” she groaned, the one leg she was still standing on beginning to tremble. “I’ve been craving this, too…”

He growled into her, both hands supporting her from below as he buried his face between her parted thighs. He settled her firmly over his open mouth, his fangs pricking into her sensitive skin, his lips and tongue roving hungrily against her, assaulting her with pleasure. Biting down on her thumb, she braced herself against the wall, her nipples as hard as the rock they grazed.

Her thighs were tensing in his claws, the muscles in her stomach and groin drawing ominously tight. She moaned low in her throat as he focused increasingly on the pulsating nub at her forefront, the mad, animalistic circuit he’d been running from there to her brimming entrance coming to a close. Ruthlessly, he rolled and flicked that firm tender bud of flesh, her lungs depleting, her toes curling at the sensation.

“Sesshoumaru…I-I...I’m going to come!” she cried breathlessly as he brought her abruptly to completion, pure electric bliss spiking through her veins more strongly than even the most potent surge of reiki.

She writhed and whimpered when he continued to lave at her, tiny beads of blood trailing down her skin at the nick of his claws. As her feet returned fully to the ground, she felt him rise behind her, the parting trail of his tongue between her cheeks making her spasm. Her breathing, which had been struggling to even out post-orgasm, hitched again at the sound of him aggressively divesting himself of his clothes.

Crushing his hard naked chest against her back, he wedged her knees apart with his, the head of his erection jabbing at her soaked, swollen folds. One clawed hand seized both of her own, her palms pressing flat against the stone above her head. Hot and slick with her wetness, his mouth bent to her neck, his other hand tracing the distended curve of her trapped breast.

“Is this what you want, Kagome?” he asked darkly, a choked breath escaping her as he entered her barely.

The pressure was intense—her entrance stretching and straining just to take the tip of him. He was so much harder, so much larger than he’d been last time. Her spine went rigid at the effort of accommodating him, her sluggishly tight womanhood struggling to catch up with the rest of her—which was now so impatient to have him inside her that she felt the visceral ache of his absence all the way down to her bones.

“Yes,” she whispered helplessly as he pushed in another agonizing inch.

He was breathing as heavily as she was, his hips shifting as the hand at her breast fell between them. She felt the brush of his knuckles against her entrance as his fingers wrapped around his massive length, halting his forward progress. A small sound of protest escaped her, his fangs nipping her in rebuke.

“You don’t deserve it,” he rumbled, withdrawing and re-sheathing himself into her partway, making her shamelessly moan. “You don’t deserve my seed.”

She could feel the immense tension in him, imagine the death-grip he was exerting on his manhood as he prevented himself from taking her all the way. Despite his harsh words, his restraint turned her on even more, her hips urging desperately against his, coaxing him deeper as he moved. She wanted to break that iron-clad restraint. She wanted him to lose control on her, to make her his in that truest, most primal sense. And she knew…she knew that deep-down, regardless of his reservations about her being human, he wanted this, too.

She knew it even as he withdrew from her completely, his claws jerking her gaze back to his by their clutch in her hair. His voice was ragged, his golden eyes tinged with red.

“But this Sesshoumaru will give it to you, anyway,” he declared, forcing her to the ground.

The breath went out of Kagome’s lungs as her back hit the stony ledge. Pinning her down by the throat, Sesshoumaru hovered just above her, his reddened gaze hooded and close. Softly shining, his silver hair fell in a gleaming curtain around them, the stripes on his face broadening slightly as he settled his weight between the sprawl of her legs.

“Please, Sesshoumaru,” she said, her voice weak and frayed with longing, “please take me.”

Her hips rose beseechingly to his, her hyper-sensitized nub rubbing against the very tip of him. Sharply, he exhaled, his eyes sliding shut for a moment as his claws bit into her skin. When his gaze met hers again, the redness had cleared.

“Are you truly so desperate for me?” he murmured, releasing his hold on her throat.

The points of his claws trailed over her mouth, Kagome taking two of them in to the knuckle when he pressed past the seam of her lips. Licking gently over the pads of his fingers, she nodded, a shiver running through her as his erection dipped between her inner folds. Lightly, she brushed her tongue along the smooth underside of a claw, his fingers twitching in her mouth—the echoing twitch of his manhood against her making her groan.

Sesshoumaru pulled his fingers from her lips, his eyes remaining fixed upon hers as he trailed his wet claws over her chin, down her neck, and into the space between her full, peaked breasts. She hadn’t realized how badly she’d wanted him to touch her there until he  _wasn’t_. That sculpted chest of his remained just beyond the reach of her bowed-out spine, Kagome whimpering as his fingers traced along one upthrust swell, skirting deliberately past her puckered nipple in their descent.

“Why?” he demanded, his gaze sharpening as his claws scratched down the plane of her belly. “Why do you desire me so?”

Kagome stared back, bewildered.  _Is that a rhetorical question…?_ But if he was genuinely asking, she was at even more of a loss. How could she begin to explain her passion for him? To Kagome, it seemed like a profound, tangled mystery—a convoluted blend of thought and feeling and experience. The complexity of it put the mess of the seal to shame. Folding in and back on itself so many times throughout the past two years, she couldn’t even tell anymore where her desire for him had really first begun—let alone pinpoint  _why_ it had.

He was obviously an incredibly attractive, powerful, enigmatic guy, and although they’d been enemies when they’d first crossed paths, she had to question even now whether the seeds of all this had been planted as far back as that first meeting. The thought that she might have  _always_  felt this attraction to him was a bit terrifying because there was no rational basis for it—nothing but pure, raw emotion and animal magnetism.

“I…I don’t know, exactly,” she admitted at last, her fingers skimming in a similar pattern down the hard ridges of his chest and abs. “I just do.”

“It is senseless,” he agreed, his claws scraping over her mound as he drew back onto his knees above her. “This desperation.”

His long silky tresses pooled at her hip, her skin prickled from the whispering path his hair had trailed down her body as he rose. Gathering it up, he pushed the sheet of spun silver behind him, Kagome watching with rapt attention as he tucked one loose tendril behind the point of an ear.

This was the first time she’d seen him  _fully_  naked. Craning her neck up from the ledge, she feasted her eyes greedily upon him—the fierce, perfect angles of his face tempered by the hazy lust in his eyes, the inhumanly defined breadth of his chest and shoulders, the stark, narrower lines delineating his stomach and hips, and, of course, the almost scarily prominent jut of his sex. Darker than the rest of him, his erection glistened with her wetness and his own, his clawed thumb sweeping almost idly over it as he followed her hungry gaze down.

“Would you like to see,” he said as he leaned back over her, something fluffy and soft sliding underneath her neck and shoulders, propping her up, “how desperate I am for you?”

Fine fur tickled her jaw.  _Must be his weird pelt_ , Kagome realized dimly. Even detached from his body, it was strangely warm. Though she was pretty sure this last question of his  _had_  been rhetorical, Kagome nodded all the same as he sat back on his heels between the spread of her legs. She moistened her lips as the slender, deadly fingers of his left hand fastened around his rigid shaft and began to move before her eyes.

His right hand was planted on the inside of her thigh, pressing her further open as he pumped himself with increasing speed. Kagome watched him pleasure himself to her in total, unguarded fascination. Maybe Yuka had been right about the less dominant hand theory, but she liked to believe there was another explanation. In a way, that left hand was  _her_  hand—the hand she given back to him. Her eyes darkened at the thought, watching possessively as those fine, strong fingers she had helped to bring back into existence clenched and stroked so erotically around him.

She liked to think that he thought this way, too—that, even during those eight months they’d been apart, he’d been touching himself like this to her in secret.

Tracing the edge of a nail around one stiff, rosy nipple, Kagome wondered when she’d become such a sex fiend. Maybe it had always been lurking within her, and Sesshoumaru had just been the one to bring it out. She remembered watching those porn movies at Yuka’s house—the ones she had lifted from her brother’s room. While she and Eri had giggled like hyenas through the whole thing—and poor Ayumi had hidden her eyes behind her hands—Kagome had observed the various acts with a keen, almost academic interest.

Easing her hand down to the junction of her thighs, she could state without any hesitation that what Sesshoumaru was doing right now was at least a thousand times sexier than anything she had seen in those movies. His grip on her bent leg tightened as the up-and-down course of his hand grew faster and less controlled. His eyes were bleeding red again, his taut abdominal muscles somehow drawing tauter still as she grazed a fingertip over her swollen nub.

She gasped when his hand suddenly seized hers, forcing her fingers down through her outer folds as he commanded her tersely, “Spread yourself for me—I need to see.”

Swallowing, Kagome brought both hands between her legs, parting her lower lips for him completely. Her heartbeat accelerated at the sheer vulnerability, the sheer wantonness of putting her femininity on such open display. Sesshoumaru growled low in his throat at the sight, the engorged head of his erection welling anew. Kagome bit down hard on her tongue, remembering the rich salty taste of him—repressing the urge to turn over onto her hands and knees and take him in her mouth again.

…He  _might_  even let her.

But if she did that, she wouldn’t get to see what she now felt like her life depended on for her to see—the absolute sexual unraveling of one Sesshoumaru, Lord of the Western Lands. Her core leaked in anticipation, wetness wending its way down her cleft in a steady trickle as he snared her hip and dragged her closer to his lowered length. There was the tense hitch of his breath, the violent clench of his jaw—a moment before his pleasure melted those harsh, ferocious features—turning his eyes to liquid gold, flooding her own needy flesh in a hot, luxurious ivory torrent, bathing her in the pure essence of  _him_.

Panting, he unlatched his hand from his spent manhood, his fingers going to her instead. Firmly, he pushed his spilled seed into her, collecting it from her sodden folds and working it into her as deeply and thoroughly as he could. Kagome bucked and whined at the bliss of this penetration, his other hand holding her up at the small of her back so that she could see exactly what he was doing.

“There’s so much,” she whispered, her slick fingers slipping between them, gliding over his sticky, semi-erect length.

Claws still buried inside her, Sesshoumaru shoved her down onto her back again, the smirk he wore as he leaned over her making her walls clench with a violence that was totally, objectively unfair. Languorously, he swiped his tongue over her nipple, eliciting a half-choked moan of surprise. As his two fingers continued to plunge, he swept the pad of his thumb occasionally against her nub, each successive touch making Kagome that much more certain that she was going to lose her mind.

His sinful face was hovering above hers, his beautiful eyes holding her own in a sex-induced trance. His claws wove through the spill of her hair, pulling her head to the side as he lowered his mouth to her upturned ear.

“ _Come_  for me, Kagome,” he delivered with perfect timing, the fingers within her stilling as he applied the most terrible, amazing pressure to the underside of her pounding nub.

 _Infinitely better than the movies_ , was Kagome’s last coherent thought before her mind and body exploded in senseless pleasure. Swiftly, Sesshoumaru captured her mouth with his, her moans and whimpers smothering—unheeded and unheard—beneath the merciless onslaught of his lips and fangs and tongue. Only after the last spasms of her release subsided did he finally withdraw his hand, the Sesshoumaru Effect setting in full swing as Kagome broke breathlessly away from his kiss, her head falling dazedly back against the pelt behind her.

Still balanced above her, Sesshoumaru brought his drenched claws to his lips instead, Kagome watching blearily as licked them slowly clean in front of her.

 _Better than anything…_ her mind amended faintly.

As Kagome’s scattered wits slowly reassembled, the outside world drew into keener focus. She gazed up at the blue-grey sky, partly obscured by the silvery granite overhang of the cliff they were on. She remembered the hot spring, its heavy steam wafting over them even now, her left side beading with condensation. There had been monkeys, she recalled, though the tiny primates seemed to have been chased off completely by Sesshoumaru’s thunderous arrival. And Entei—wait, where  _was_  Entei?

Propping herself up on her elbows as much as the hard body still on top of hers would allow, Kagome glanced around, but her equine compatriot was nowhere to be seen. Equal parts bothered and relieved by this, she fell back again, her hands going to Sesshoumaru’s shoulders. Damp claws caged her right breast, his fine silver hair tickling across the other as the arm wrapped around her back crushed her more firmly to him.

“…Sesshoumaru?” she ventured, shaking him slightly. “ _Ah!_ ”

Kagome winced, arching, as sharp fangs bit at her nipple. Whimpering at the coarse, ensuing stroke of his tongue, she shook him again. With another vaguely chastising nip, he released her, his golden eyes snapping to hers in impatience.

“What is it?”

“Shouldn’t we, uh…shouldn’t we be getting back?”

Slowly, he raised himself up over her, the muscles of his arms and chest flexing sinuously. The hand at her back slid lower, cupping her full flesh as he angled her hips flush against his.

“Are you so eager to return?” he said lowly, his half-erect length splitting apart her folds.

A fresh wave of heat flooded her groin at the contact. Curling her nails against his skin, she rolled her hips helplessly into his—marveling at how hard he already was, or  _still_  was. Both possibilities were equally arousing.

“It would be easier for you, this way,” he rumbled, as if to himself, easing down and bringing the blunt head of his sex against her slim opening.

His eyes were reflective, as though he really  _had_  been considering her when deciding whether or not to take her on round two. Kagome was as touched as she was titillated. Well, perhaps not  _quite_  as much…

“Maybe I don’t want it to be easy,” she replied, the words tumbling out of her runaway, perverted mouth in one hasty breath.

Sesshoumaru’s eyes widened fractionally, a slight, wicked smile curving his lips. “Good.”

His mouth was on hers again, kissing her hungrily as he thrust into her anyway. Kagome jolted at the sensation of being filled by him, the pain of the intrusion warring viciously with the pleasure. Even at partial mast, he was too much for her to handle, tears seeping from the corners of her eyes as her thighs clamped around him with cramping tension.

“Sesshoumaru…” she pleaded weakly, meeting his gaze. “I…I can’t.”

His eyes were clouded, his lower lip bloodied beneath the bracing bite of a fang. As tense as she was, he was undeniably tenser, every muscle in him poised with ravaging intensity.

“You already have,” he informed her shortly, a piercing cry escaping her as he drew back and re-thrust.

Maybe it was demonic inner strength or sheer, steely force of will, but with that one, full inward course complete he withdrew from her entirely, Kagome now whimpering at the lack of him instead. Hauling her up to her knees along with him, he bent her head toward his glazed, gleaming length.

“We should clean off before we return,” he stated with truly exasperating coolness.

Kagome could take the rather forceful hint—not that she needed much persuading. As her lips closed around him, Sesshoumaru released the gravelly, pent-up groan she suspected he’d been repressing, his claws combing and clutching at her messy hair. At one particularly sharp tug, her hand slipped from its resting place on his marble thigh, her name tearing raggedly from his throat as her thumb swept accidentally over the arc of a testicle.

She wondered how Columbus must have felt when he’d first set foot upon the New World. Maybe it was something like the exhilaration she was currently experiencing at this discovery. She’d not really paid much attention to Sesshoumaru’s balls before—they were just kind of, well,  _there_. But if merely touching them could make him moan her name like  _that_ , then neglecting them had been a major oversight.

 _Time to correct it_ , she decided, his stiff length popping from her mouth as she traced the point of her tongue along the path her thumb had just taken.

Sesshoumaru’s claws scraped her scalp, an actual full-body  _shiver_  spiking through him. Pausing, she glanced up at him, savoring the undisguised lust in his expression.

“Did you learn that from your ‘movies’, as well?” he asked huskily.

“No,” she said, the tip of her nose nuzzling his shaft as he jerked beneath the second, testing swipe of her tongue. “I learned it from you just now.”

She took her time exploring this new uncharted territory, his skewed knees widening further as she trailed over him with her lips and her tongue. Beneath her attentions, the loose, faintly wrinkled skin grew increasingly smooth and tight. When she attempted to suck in one of those swollen, heavy globes, he wrenched her back on a growl, shoving the head of his erection into her mouth instead.

He was more than half-hard at this point, Kagome’s lips straining to contain him as he urged her back and forth along the length of his shaft. Cupping his slick balls in her hand, she rolled and caressed them fluidly, the vise-like seize of his claws in her hair her only warning as he came inside her with a snarled curse.

Unprepared, Kagome gagged and spluttered, some of his seed going unfortunately down her windpipe as she struggled to swallow the rest. Hacking a little, she rocked back on her haunches, a trickle of ejaculate leaking from the corner of her mouth.

Leaning back in toward her, he lapped the escaping seed away, his hands already parting her open once again.

**xXxXxXx**

Kagome sighed as the last of her orgasmic convulsions rippled through her, her dizzy head rising from the strange pelt behind her—which may _,_ or may not, have just grazed along the outer swell of her breast. Holding her rear-end captive in his claws, Sesshoumaru raised her hips to his mouth, his face tilting as he fit his lips to her and drank in her latest release.

The current score, if she was tallying it up correctly, was now 3 to 2. In his typical superior fashion, Sesshoumaru seemed determined to one-up her—not that she had any real grounds to complain about it.

Through the lingering fog of her pleasure, she watched as he drew back, his red tongue gliding over her hot, sated flesh, golden eyes pinning her own. Thoroughly, he licked away her wetness, the increased pressure he was now applying to the overwrought bundle of nerves at her apex once again seeming counterproductive to the supposed “cleaning” effort. Kagome whimpered, writhing in protest.

“Too—too much,” she choked out, Sesshoumaru’s eyes darkening ferally as he pressed his tongue to her that much harder.

Kagome gasped as what felt like 10,000 volts of white-hot pleasure jolted through her, turning her to a pile of human mush on the spot.  _4 to 2_ , her melted brain counted as Sesshoumaru loomed over her, lowering his smug mouth to hers. She tasted the tang of her own arousal, his rough tongue pressing into hers insistently.

 _Way to_ literally _rub it in_ , Kagome grumbled inwardly, kissing him back nonetheless.

As she broke away for air at last, he moved his mouth to her neck instead, his fangs scraping enticingly over her pulse point. Kagome shivered, threading her fingers through his silky hair as she urged his face up to hers.

“It’s getting late,” she entreated. “Maybe we should actually clean up now? If you came looking for me, Kouga-kun and the others are probably searching, too.”

At the mention of Kouga, Sesshoumaru’s sultry gaze cooled. Kagome yelped as he abruptly stood, gathering her up like a sack of potatoes.

“Very well,” he said, his impassive face an inch from hers.

Kagome had half a second of uncertainty before he tossed her into the spring with a resounding splash. Spluttering, she surfaced, glaring over at him as he slipped gracefully into the pool. With a huff, she paddled over, joining him near the ledge.

“ _That_  was rude,” she groused, the daiyoukai ignoring her as he submerged.

Massaging her stinging side, Kagome shook her head as she turned, reaching for her bath products. She was just rinsing the shampoo from her hair when she saw Sesshoumaru inspecting the bottle in his hands.

“What is this material?” he asked, little ribbons of plastic curling away beneath the scratch of his claws.

Fearing for the safety of her few remaining modern luxuries, Kagome figured she’d better speak fast. The way he was narrowing his eyes at the English brand name wasn’t putting her any more at ease.

“It’s called ‘plastic’—and it’s harmless,” she added quickly, Sesshoumaru giving her a  _look_.

“You cleanse your hair with this?” Flipping open the cap, he pointed it down and squeezed, a long jet of her precious shampoo streaking down into the water.

Panicking, Kagome slammed her palm over the opening to close it off before all was lost. Sesshoumaru’s curious gaze slanted to her. She stared at him in exasperation. He really  _was_  a force of destruction.

“…Yeah,” she answered wearily. “Where I’m from, we use this stuff to wash our hair because it lathers and conditions a lot better than regular soap.”

“So I see,” he responded evenly. “But it will not be invented for some time.”

“Right,” Kagome nodded—before she abruptly paled, gazing at him in fearful shock. “You…you  _know_ …”

“That you have traveled here from the future,” Sesshoumaru finished for her, righting and re-capping the bottle with perfect nonchalance. “Yes, miko—I know.”

“H-how did you…?”

Sesshoumaru’s gaze slid pointedly to her open backpack. Spilling out onto the ground, along with a towel and a dog-eared comic book, was her old school planner, the year 1998 emblazoned on the cover.

“Ah,” she said, sinking neck-deep into the spring.

If there was an Olympic event for stupidity, Kagome would easily take the gold. She couldn’t believe she’d been so careless. Bracing herself for the sudden collapse of the space-time continuum, she retreated into the ledge. It was a tense moment, awaiting the end of the universe. As Sesshoumaru approached her, her wary gaze shifted to him.

Regarding her briefly, he pressed the shampoo bottle into her hand as he turned. “You may wash this Sesshoumaru’s hair.”

Kagome blinked, the tension bleeding from her like a stuck pig. It seemed, at least for now, that the immortal demon lord was content with the knowledge that there would be superior hair-care products in 500 years.

“…Gee, thanks,” she returned dryly, her lips twitching in a grin even as she lamented the toll he was going to take on her diminishing shampoo stock.

All that long,  _gorgeous_  hair… Kagome’s fingers itched as she uncapped the bottle and flipped it upside-down above her eager hand.

Sesshoumaru knelt down as she slid her slick fingers through his hair, going back for more shampoo several times as she worked her way from root to tip. Smooth and dark and gleaming, his long tresses flowed through her hands, the rich lather turning the strands butter-soft as she piled them atop his shoulder. A few stray locks trailed down into the water before him, fine bits of foam swirling off onto the water’s surface and eddying away with the steam.

“Are all humans so clean in your era?” he asked, rubbing a soapy tendril between his claws.

“For the most part,” Kagome answered, massaging a little more shampoo into the ends. “There are some exceptions though…”

“How strange,” the daiyoukai mused aloud. “The humans of this era are such filthy creatures, scratching out an existence from the dirt as they do.”

The miko glowered, scrubbing his scalp a little more roughly than required. “Well, times change, I guess.”

He made a noncommittal sound, claws snaking back around her thigh. Kagome’s breasts crushed against his slippery skin as he drew her into him.

“Keep doing that,” he ordered, her nipples hardening against him at the low rumble of his voice.

She dug her nails in a bit more as Sesshoumaru’s hand rose between her legs, the tips of his claws just barely dusting the outer fringes of her sex. Shifting slightly, she tried to focus on the task at hand. She had saved his bangs for last, her fingers smoothing over his brow as she combed through them—surprised at the extra heat radiating from the crescent mark on his forehead.

Absently, she traced over it again, Sesshoumaru stiffening against her. Thinking she’d made him uncomfortable, she drew back, her thumb grazing accidentally over the delicate point of an ear.

“Sorry, I—”

Quick as lightning, he seized her wrist and brought it forward, clenching her hand around his rigid length. Breathing sharply, he worked her over and around him with bruising force, the shampoo on her fingers cutting the friction until the glaze of his own lubricant replaced it. Barring her arm across his shoulders, Kagome braced herself as best she could, holding on for dear life as he drove her along at an increasingly furious pace.

“You take such liberties, miko,” he said savagely, her finger bones grinding in his brutal grip, making her hiss in pain even as she clenched her throbbing thighs together.

“Only because you let me,” she said softly after a moment, her tongue gliding boldly along that same sensitive point of his ear.

Sesshoumaru growled as she took it between her teeth. His hand released hers, wedging between his back and her front, prising open her legs as she continued to pump him, her thumb sweeping over his tip as he stroked her nub in turn.

It wasn’t long before her knees were growing dangerously weak. Kagome whimpered as the pressure built feverishly within her, a harsh pinch to her most sensitive spot shocking her back to her senses.

“Not yet,” Sesshoumaru seethed. “Not until I tell you to,  _human_.”

Supremely agitated—in more ways than one, Kagome grit her teeth. “My name,” she said fiercely, reiki channeling to her palm, “is  _Kagome_.”

She squeezed down on him as hard as she could, heat simmering just beneath her hand. Sesshoumaru half-snarled, half-groaned, twisting from her hold as he whipped her around to face him, bringing her needy center flush against his shaft. Panting, she watched the red recede from his eyes as he ground her against him.

She could feel the pleasure rising between them as he moved, his erection jabbing into her belly like a sword. Trembling once more, she waited with baited breath for that finishing stroke. He leaned in as he delivered it to them both, speaking her name into her open mouth.

Euphoria washed over her like never before. As Kagome surrendered to his demanding kiss, she imagined she could still taste her name on his tongue. Strong arms held her fast to him, his thick seed pulsing into the slim cavity between their bodies, her own much thinner fluids glossing the base of his shaft.

“5 to 3,” she sighed when he let her breathe at last, her expression turning sheepish as he fixed her with a sharp look. “…Er, it’s nothing.”

Some of the shampoo from his hair had transferred to her during this latest round of intimacy. Clawed fingers glided almost gently through a streak of lather on her chest—a moment before he plunged her entire body beneath the surface of the spring.

“Once— _again_ ,” Kagome rasped out angrily as she rose, water-logged and red in the face, “ _totally—_ uncalled for!”

But  _of course_ , Sesshoumaru was now underwater himself—heedless of her tirade and oblivious to her indignation. Briskly washing herself off for what would hopefully be the last time today, Kagome pulled herself up out of the pool and retrieved her towel.

Balled up as it had been, the terrycloth was still pretty damp from her hair washing earlier that afternoon. Teeth chattering, she cast a sly, appraising glance at the self-heated pelt lying close by. Sure enough, it was delightfully warm when she picked it up, pressing the stretch of downy fur to her chest.

 _Surprisingly absorbent, too_ , Kagome thought admiringly, drops of water wicking away from her breasts at once.

Humming to herself, she dried her arms and shoulders. As she brought the pelt low again, rubbing it over her stomach, the furry length moved of its own accord—curving deliberately between her thighs.

“KYAAAHH!” Kagome screamed, flinging the lecherous pelt away from her.

“Miko,” Sesshoumaru said sternly from behind her.

Kagome turned to him at once, pointing accusingly at the now-listless train of fur. “That thing is a pervert—it’s official!”

“That  _thing_ ,” the daiyoukai replied in a warning tone, “is the tail of this Sesshoumaru.”

“Y-your tail?”

The very end of said tail gave a decisive flick.  _Well—_ now _it makes sense_ , Kagome thought flatly.

She was just reaching for her harmless human towel again when she felt a familiar presence approaching from above, Entei landing before her with the faintest clack of hooves a moment later. Straightening, Kagome planted her hands on her hips.

“And where in Kami’s name have  _you_  been?” she asked him narrowly.

The horse youkai gave her a decidedly withering look. Blushing, Kagome’s eyes flicked from her bare chest to the still stark-naked demon lord standing behind her.

Somehow, he seemed even  _more_  intimidating without the clothes and armor on. As if reading her mind, Sesshoumaru smirked, Kagome tearing her eyes away from him with a huff. No need to stroke that huge ego of his—or anything  _else_  for that matter—any more than she already had.

“…Fair enough,” she muttered to Entei, slipping behind him as she looked around for her missing bra.


	20. Chapter Twenty

**Chapter Twenty**

Sesshoumaru watched as she wrung the water from her hair, the front of her haori translucent where her dark heavy waves had rested. Even now, he considered reaching for her again—ripping off her clothes and his own, bearing her to the rock below and making her take whatever he saw fit to give her. Damn the wolves. Damn Naraku and his minions. Damn the Inu no Taishou and his swords. Damn the gods themselves.

Sesshoumaru feared no one. He answered to no one. He did as he pleased. If he desired her, then so be it. He would have her, as often as he chose— _however_  he chose.

Such was his right and his will. Such was her fate to accept it.

Yet she tested him as much as she tempted him. He could see that this was in her nature. Even had she been born into this feudal era, he suspected she would be the same. So willful, so wanton…she seemed accustomed to acting on her impulses unchecked, her strength and her passion giving her free rein over lesser beings—lesser males, like Kouga and Inuyasha. But Sesshoumaru was a daiyoukai, and he would remind her of her place.

Blood rising at the thought, he stepped forward to remind her once again.

Running her fingers through her damp hair, she met his gaze as he approached her, a smile pulling at her lips. “Ready to head back?”

Something in her expression gave him pause. Turning from him, she slipped the straps of her pack over her shoulders, taking up her bow and quiver as well. The horse youkai tossed his bright orange mane as she mounted him with easy grace, her clear blue eyes focused in the direction of the campsite. Clothed and armed astride her fiery steed, her delicate features set with purpose, she seemed almost another woman entirely.

_The Priestess of the Shikon no Tama_ , Sesshoumaru reflected as he looked upon her.

Only a few years ago, she could not have been less worthy to the claim, but the title suited her now. Once more he was struck by how rapidly humans progressed and changed—not merely as individuals, but as a collective. What little he had gleaned from her of the future reinforced this notion in his mind. Beset with such a fleeting mortal lifespan, her kind lived with an urgency and intensity that galvanized the world around them—the  _others_  around them. Kagome was not the only one who had changed these past two years—he, too, had changed.

_She_  had changed him.

Regarding her now, he both wondered and he feared, how she might change him still.

Drawing up beside her, Sesshoumaru looked with her to the west.

“Let us return,” he said.

A short distance from the campsite, they landed, Sesshoumaru bracing himself for the irritations to come. As the sun began to set, he walked alongside the miko and her steed, his nose wrinkling as the first of the wolves’ musty hide tents came into view.

“KAGOME-CHAN!”

Sesshoumaru glared as Kouga burst through the pines, landing in a crouch atop Entei’s broad neck. Hand to his chest, the wolf bowed his head before Kagome, his eyes screwed shut in relief.

“Thank the gods you’re safe,” he muttered, leaping nimbly to the ground when the horse shook him off in annoyance. “I sent those idiots out to find you, but they’re as useless as they look.”

“Kouga-onii-sama…” his underlings whimpered pathetically behind him.

“Sorry to worry you, Kouga-kun,” Kagome said with a smile that made Sesshoumaru’s claws curl. Demurely, she looked to him instead. “I won’t take off alone like that again.”

Her deference appeased him—as did her insinuation. Striding forward, he left her to entertain the gathering mongrels. Jakken and Ah-Un were nowhere in sight—still on the trail of the missing miko, no doubt. Grateful for his vassal’s absence, Sesshoumaru ascended the ridge and approached the barrier. Now that his earlier frustrations had been spent, he was eager to try the sword again.

But as night fell, Sesshoumaru found himself no closer to achieving his goal. Instead of burning him, Tessaiga now simply reverted back to its original, rusted state at the first application of force. Though he could see the blade’s red form even more clearly now, bringing about a second transformation seemed just as infuriatingly out of reach to him as it had before.

So intent on the task, it was a moment before he noticed her approach. Narrowly, his eyes slid to her as she sat beside him on the rock.

“I couldn’t sleep,” Kagome explained, reddening. Her gaze fell to the sword in his hands. “Making progress?”

Sesshoumaru’s jaw clenched, his agitation peaking. His first, better instinct was to tell her to leave him be. But when had he ever followed his best judgment where this wretched girl was concerned?

“The fang still refuses to adopt a second form,” he bit out instead. “It resists my control, as it has from the beginning.”

The words left a bitter taste in his mouth. To admit his failings to himself was irksome enough—to speak them aloud was not something his pride had ever before allowed. Not that he had felt compelled to voice them. What good did it do, to commiserate with others?

Kagome nodded in understanding. “Tessaiga sure seems to have a will of its own, doesn’t it?” Warmly, she met his gaze. “But you’re its wielder now. If it’ll transform once for you, surely it’ll transform again.”

Oddly, her confidence restored a bit of his own. Easing his grip on the frayed hilt, he studied her expression—tired, yet unflappable as ever. Perhaps this was her true strength, that she never seemed to doubt or to despair.

“If Tessaiga has a will,” Sesshoumaru said after a moment, “then it is that of my father.”

“Makes sense,” she replied, nodding again. Her eyes took on an inquisitive gleam. “What was he like, anyway? Inuyasha didn’t seem to know much about him.”

“Eccentric,” Sesshoumaru answered diplomatically. Regardless of his personal differences with the Inu no Taishou, he would not disrespect his departed father in speaking. “Powerful, even amongst daiyoukai, though in his later years, he became increasingly preoccupied with mortal affairs.”

_As you well know_ , his pointed gaze conveyed.

Kagome’s expression turned dry. “I take it you two didn’t exactly see eye-to-eye?”

“An understatement,” he admitted shortly. Lifting Tessaiga before him, he watched his own reflection warp and blur along the battered blade. “A sword whose power is awakened by weakness. What could Chichi-ue have meant, commissioning such a blade?”

“Maybe that strength doesn’t really mean anything, unless you have something to protect.”

Sesshoumaru looked to her, her own gaze distant and contemplative. She seemed unaware that she was running her fingers through the fur of his tail, but he felt no inclination to stop her. Her voice was soft as she spoke, as if from far away.

“I don’t think Inuyasha ever believed he could save Kikyou. Maybe she was beyond saving, at that point. Whether Tessaiga failed him, or he failed Tessaiga, I can’t say.” Faintly shimmering, her eyes rose to his once again. “But he trusted this sword, and even though he asked a lot of it at times, it trusted him, too.”

Sesshoumaru frowned in consideration. Mixed as his feelings were regarding Tenseiga, he understood what it meant to trust in one’s blade. Perhaps Tessaiga had not been the only one slow to accept its change in ownership.

Stifling a yawn with the back of her hand, Kagome leaned into him, the end of his tail going around her instinctively as he made no conscious decision to prevent it. It felt good to have her close to him, though the realization itself was unsettling.

“Go back to your bed,” he warned her.

Undeterred, she curled her fingers deeper into his fur, mumbling drowsily, “But I want to stay here with you…”

And when had he ever denied her? Grimly, Sesshoumaru turned his gaze to the moon above. How his father would enjoy seeing him humbled so.

It was this rueful thought that stayed with him throughout the night, mellowing to resignation by the time the first rays of sun slanted over the horizon. The girl was sleeping against him still. Standing from the rock, he let his tail slide beneath her and around her, Tessaiga transforming in his beleaguered hand.

Approaching the barrier once more, he lifted the golden blade high above him, and  _asked_.

**xXxXxXx**

Kagome awoke with a start—her senses alarming at the vast, powerful youki emanating from nearby. As she rose from the dense fur pillowed beneath her and turned toward the source, a gasp of surprise escaped her.

Not too far away, Sesshoumaru stood, the barrier before him already beginning to shiver like a soap bubble in the breeze as he raised Tessaiga against it. The sword’s broad blade glowed vibrantly red, demonic power continuing to gather and swirl around it in spiralling crimson waves.

Kagome’s heart swelled at the sight, a smile of pure elation spreading across her face.  _He’s done it!—Sesshoumaru’s unlocked Tessaiga’s second form…_

“Holy shit!”

Skidding to a halt beside her, Kouga stared mesmerized along with her, the other wolves and Jakken panting as they caught up with them a minute later. Together, they all watched with bated breath as Sesshoumaru leapt and plunged, bringing the transformed fang down upon the glimmering shield with a thunderous, blinding crash. Kagome shielded her eyes, turning aside as sharp, crackling winds of demonic energy whipped across her face and through her hair and sleeves.

When she looked up again, the barrier was gone.

Tiny, fading sparkles of youki rained down as Sesshoumaru elegantly landed. Glancing back at her, he sheathed the Red Tessaiga in one fluid, self-assured motion—as if destroying gigantic, seemingly impenetrable enemy forcefields was everyday’s business for  _this_  Sesshoumaru.

Kagome’s stare flattened.  _Wonder why he wasted all that time with the sword when he could have just applied that crushing ego of his…_

“Milord…”

Her dispassionate gaze slid to the misty-eyed imp standing closeby. “Jakken…are you  _crying_?”

As he fixed her with a watery glare, Ayame and her grandfather drew up beside them. The wolf girl curled a clawed fist to her breast, her expression fierce as she gazed upon the mountain looming ahead.

“The way is clear,” the Elder wolf declared, ears lowering as he padded forward. “Let us ascend and reclaim our sacred lands.”

“Hell yeah,” Kouga growled in agreement, grinning in a baring of fangs. “You ready, Kagome-chan?”

“I’m ready,” she replied with a determined nod. “Let’s go!”

As Jakken scrambled atop Ah-Un, Entei touched down next to her, looking very put-upon as he carried her yellow bag and weapons in his teeth. Thanking him profusely, Kagome equipped herself and climbed aboard as Sesshoumaru approached, collecting his abandoned tail. Realizing belatedly as he did so that she must have slept wrapped up in it all night, Kagome blushed.

“Thank you,” she said shyly, meeting his gaze. “That was incredible, by the way—how you brought down the barrier. You made it look so easy.”

“It was,” he replied, claws resting on Tessaiga’s hilt as he regarded her intently, “in the end.”

Her blush deepened at the intensity in that look. With a smoky snort of exasperation, Entei pawed at the ground.

“Guess we’d better get going,” Kagome said, crooking a smile.

Sesshoumaru inclined his head. As they took to the sky to join with the others, who were already rapidly advancing up the slopes, he caught her by the arm, his features hard as he looked to the dark, craggy summit ahead.

“Stay close to me,” he said to her lowly.

Swallowing, Kagome followed the ominous direction of his gaze. “Sure thing.”

**xXxXxXx**

“It’s so eerie,” the miko muttered, gliding alongside Kouga and Ayame as the wolves rounded another flinty ledge. “Everything’s just…silent. And  _still_. There’s not even a breeze.”

“I don’t sense any youki, either,” Kouga mumbled, his bright blue eyes scanning from side to side. “What about Jewel Shards, Kagome-chan—you picking up on anything?”

She shook her head. “Nothing. Just the two in your legs, that’s all.”

“Too bad. I miss having three.  _Four_  wouldn’t be too shabby, either—one for each limb.” Kouga tapped his chin thoughtfully before cutting his eyes slyly back to her. “And I think I could find  _somewhere_  to put a fifth.”

Kagome’s cheeks blazed red as Ayame glowered murderously, bow frame and katana hilt both promptly whacking the offending wolf prince upside the head. As Ginta and Hakkaku rushed to the aid of their less-than-noble lord, Kagome glanced over at Sesshoumaru, who was staring with perfect disinterest at the dead, inhospitable scenery.

“Do you smell anything?” she asked him.

Golden eyes slanted toward her. “No,” he replied. “The wolf stench is overpowering.”

“ _Hey!_ ” Kouga snapped, massaging the twin welts on his head. “Watch yourself, dog.”

Unimpressed by this threat, Sesshoumaru returned to his study of the surrounding landscape. Kagome sighed.

“Milord!” Jakken cried, drawing up beside the inu daiyoukai on Ah-Un. “Please allow this Jakken to scout ahead for you!”

“What!” Kagome exclaimed. “You want to go ahead alone—are you nuts? You’re the most likely to get killed out of any of us…”

“Silence, wench! I need not your permission.  _Nor_  your baseless conjectures!”

“Whatever,” Kagome grumbled. “There’s no way Sesshoumaru’ll—”

“Very well,” the daiyoukai nodded graciously. “You may proceed, Jakken.”

“Aye, milord—thank you, milord! I shall not disappoint you!”

His small chest swelling with dignity and purpose, Jakken pulled proudly at the reins—Ah-Un flat-out refusing to fly ahead. Angrily, the imp tugged again—and again. After about thirty more seconds of frantic jerking and some hopping up and down for good measure, the two-headed dragon sullenly complied, pushing slowly ahead of the rest of the group.

Kagome shook her head as she addressed the daiyoukai. “Are you trying to get him killed, Sesshoumaru?”

He held her gaze just a  _beat_  too long. The miko sweat-dropped.  _Maybe he_ is _…_

Briefly, Sesshoumaru closed his eyes, his colored lids glowing bright red in the stark winter sun. “Jakken is more capable than he appears.”

Smiling at this, Kagome gazed ahead toward the mountain peak. The pesky imp had probably just received the best compliment of his life—if only he’d been around to hear it. She could imagine him turning into a little green puddle of goo at even such lukewarm praise from his  _beloved_  Lord Sesshoumaru.

Raising a hand to her lips, Kagome giggled at the thought. When she looked back over at the daiyoukai, she found that he was looking at her in turn. A faint blush rose to her cheeks as her weak knees slipped a little further down Entei’s sides.

Jakken might not be the  _only_  one…

They were nearly to the top of the mountain when the imp returned. At the sight of Ah-Un’s hulking form sailing toward them, Kagome let out a breath of relief she had no idea she’d been holding. Let alone  _why_.

Sesshoumaru’s pesky retainer had never been anything less than rude to her. Nevertheless, she was still happy to see that he remained in one stumpy, pea-green piece. Shaking her head inwardly, Kagome was starting to suspect that she was too sentimental for her own good.

“Sesshoumaru-sama!” the imp hailed as he drew Ah-Un to a sluggish stop.

“Jakken,” the daiyoukai returned evenly. “What have you discovered?”

The whole group paused in anticipation.

Jakken shrank a little under the weight of such intense regard, his capped head hanging dejectedly. “…Nothing, milord.”

Kagome sighed, her shoulders sinking. Kouga crossed his arms irritably.

“Tch, some use you are,” the wolf prince grumbled.

Jakken glared at him defensively. “‘Twas not my fault! There was another barrier sealing the summit gates—I could go no further!”

“Another barrier?!” Ayame exclaimed, Kouga tensing at her side.

Sesshoumaru’s flat stare at the imp really said it all:  _What an idiot._

Kagome ground the heel of her hand between her eyes in frustration. “Jakken…mind telling us what  _else_  you didn’t discover…?”

“T-that was all,” the imp replied, looking sheepishly toward his silent lord.

As the wolves and their allies resumed their climb, Kagome caught Sesshoumaru’s eye. “Guess we’ll be needing that Red Tessaiga of yours again.”

“So it would appear,” he replied, folding his arms into his sleeves.

“Two barriers seems like major overkill to me,” Kagome mused. “This guy is awfully determined to keep people out.”

“Perhaps,” Sesshoumaru allowed, frowning in thought, “or to keep himself concealed.”

Kagome frowned as well, mulling over this possibility. The lack of detectable youki seemed to corroborate Sesshoumaru’s theory. But if the one who’d raised the barriers was scared or weak in some way, how could he have slaughtered the majority of Ayame’s clan? Something just wasn’t adding up.

It was scary—the prospect of going into battle against a faceless enemy. Kagome could only hope that their combined strength would be enough to stop him— _whoever_  he was…

…Along with his army of undead wolf soldiers.

As she and the others ascended the last frozen, crumbling slope, the towering gates of the northern wolf demons’ summit fortress appeared in the distance. Extending her senses, Kagome could just see the red shimmer of yet another barrier enclosing the peak. A vast plateau still separated the wolves and their allies from their destination. Touching down to the ground along with Sesshoumaru and Jakken, Kagome continued with the wolves on foot.

The group had just crossed the center of the plateau when the whole cliff began to shake, Entei rearing as the dirt shifted suddenly beneath his hooves. Sesshoumaru’s left hand went to Kagome’s back to catch her, his right hand curving around the hilt of his sword.

“What the hell?!” Kouga growled, leaping aside as a set of half-decomposed claws speared up at him through the gravelly earth.

“An ambush,” the Elder wolf rumbled through his bared fangs.

_Why is it_ always _an ambush?_ Kagome groaned to herself, reaching for her bow.

All around them, an army of undead wolf youkai began emerging from the rocky soil, swords and spears and axes clutched in their rotting claws as they stalked toward Kagome and her group. Pushing ahead, the living banded together upon a stretch of exposed stone as their enemies closed in around them from all sides. Despite her protests, Sesshoumaru shoved Kagome behind him into the middle of the pack. Gripping her bow, the miko cringed at the smell of decay, trying not to lose her breakfast at the sight of all that raw red flesh dangling from the zombies’ exposed bones and skulls.

“It’s just like before!” Ayame cried out in despair, as the enemy she’d just hacked down reassembled and lunged toward her a minute later. “We can’t fell them!”

“Shut up and keep trying!” Kouga snarled as he dashed from foe to foe, decapitating them with sword and claw and Jewel-enhanced leg.

But after just a few minutes, the zombie heads glowed and snapped back onto their respective necks, the corpses returning steadfastly to their feet. In front of her, Sesshoumaru wasn’t faring much better. For each broad swathe Tessaiga cut through the enemies before him, the scattered limbs and bones reattached and reanimated shortly thereafter.

“Dammit,” Kouga panted, skidding to a halt nearby. “At this rate they’re just gonna wear us down.”

“We should retreat,” Ayame said, shaking her head. “It’s no good.”

“She’s right, Kouga-onii-sama,” Ginta said, yelping as a severed hand clamped around his ankle.

Prising it off his pack mate with the flat of his dagger, Hakkaku nodded as well. “Onii-sama, it seems we have no choice… ”

Kouga grit his fangs. “You cowards. There has to be a way to defeat them.”

“You should leave,” Sesshoumaru said, slashing through another file of enemies, “while you still have the strength.”

“You say that like it doesn’t apply to you,” the wolf prince growled.

Sesshoumaru cut him a look. “My followers and I can take to the air at any time.”

Kagome glowered at him.  _So I’m just a ‘follower’, huh?_

Turning around, she looked behind her toward Sesshoumaru’s  _actual_  followers. Her eyes widened in alarm as she saw the undead wolves swarming Jakken and Ah-Un—a few enemies leaping nimbly around the dragon’s fiery jaws and advancing toward the flailing imp. As two zombies closed in on Jakken from the front and behind, Kagome shot forward on Entei, knocking one enemy clean off as she whipped around and sent a blazing arrow through the other.

The zombie screamed as her reiki seared through him, his soul escaping from his open jaws in a ray of white light. The bones and armor that remained clattered to the dragon’s back—and stayed there.

“Ah…?” Blinking, Jakken lowered his hands from his temples, the toe of his boot prodding at the still remains as he gaped at her. “Miko, you…”

As Kagome nocked and charged another arrow, the rest of her group hurried toward her, cutting a path through the zombie throng.

“Kagome-chan!” Kouga exclaimed, bowling Jakken aside as he sprang atop Ah-Uh to meet her—the sheer ardor in his gaze making the young miko lean back with a blush. “Your power broke the curse!”

Puffing a strand of auburn hair out of her eyes, Ayame crossed her arms sulkily. “ _Of course_ , it did…”

“Er, guess so,” Kagome agreed awkwardly as Sesshoumaru drew up beside her, glaring. “S-sorry to take off again…but it worked out, didn’t it?”

There was about as much chance of Sesshoumaru buying  _that_  weak line of logic as there was of Jakken professing his undying gratitude to her. As Kagome braced herself for a reprimand or worse, a peal of cold, feminine laughter rang out from the direction of the summit stronghold, the horde of zombie wolves going still as statues at the sound.

At once Kouga dropped into a feral crouch, claws flexed and hackles raised. “ _Kagura!_ ” he seethed.

Smirking, the wind sorceress appeared through a crack in the gates, her pale skin tinted red by the glow of the barrier before her. “My, my, how predictable—arriving here like lambs to the slaughter. Or should I say, wolves.”

“Very funny,” the wolf prince spat, cracking his claws. “Why don’t you come out from behind your petty shield and say that to my face, you spineless bitch.”

Kagura’s expression soured. “What a vulgar beast you are…”

Glancing away in disdain, her crimson gaze fell upon Sesshoumaru. Kagome’s blood boiled as Kagura’s lips curved in a slow, sultry smile.

“We meet again, Sesshoumaru-sama—though I must say, I’m surprised to see you in such low company as this. Did you enjoy my marionettes’ opening number?” With a flick of her fan the undead army snapped over at the waist as one—in a gruesome parody of a bow. “They aren’t much to look at, I’m afraid, but a girl must work with what she has…”

“You vile witch!” Ayame yelled, brandishing her katana. “How dare you defile the bodies of my brethren with your foul sorcery! You will pay for this disgrace.”

Sighing, Kagura inspected her sharp enameled nails. “Bold words, little she-wolf. But I seem to recall you and your flea-infested pack turning tail from my puppets once before.” The sorceress’s eyes lifted, narrowing. “While you curs have been licking your wounds in the foothills, I’ve only had more time to oil the joints and tighten the strings.”

As Kagura’s fan flew open, the zombie wolves before her surged upon the living like a wave. Gritting her teeth, Kagome flooded her strung arrow with reiki, the loosened bolt shearing through the attacking undead in a mighty, rose-colored flare. The cry of liberated souls echoed along the cliff side as Kagome lowered her bow and fixed the sorceress with a glare.

“Looks like you need to do some more adjusting, Kagura.”

The wind witch pursed her lips, her crimson gaze flicking between Kagome, Sesshoumaru and Kouga. “Hm. You sure seem to get around, don’t you, miko?” She tisked, shaking her head in false sympathy. “With that poor half-breed of yours scarcely cold in the ground…”

Kagome flushed, incensed. “Speak for yourself—what are you doing here, anyway? I know Naraku’s not around. So whose barrier are you shacked-up behind?”

“Wouldn’t  _you_ like to know.” Kagura’s garnet eyes glittered as they slid to Kouga. “Unfortunately, we weren’t expecting you so soon. It’s quite rude, you see, to barge in early”—her gaze cut back to Kagome and Sesshoumaru—“with uninvited guests in tow.”

“Sorry to crash whatever bullshit party you’ve been planning,” Kouga bit out, drawing his sword. “But here we are, and if we brought down one barrier of yours, bringing down another’ll be an easy task.”

Kagura’s lips thinned. “First, you will have to reach it.”

Leveling her fan before her, she spun, the undead rising around Kagome and her group in a twisting, churning maelstrom of claws, fangs, bones and weaponry. As the zombie gale descended upon them, Kagome shouted to get down, channeling her reiki through the upraised arch of her bow, her power spreading out in a glimmering dome above herself and her allies. The zombies shrieked as they crashed into the shield, purifying on contact.

Kagome clutched her bow tighter as she struggled beneath the force of the continued assault, her gaze narrowed at Kagura.  _She’s stalling—whoever is behind that barrier doesn’t want to be found out. Sesshoumaru was right…_

Outside the protective shield, she caught glimpses of the daiyoukai. His white form flashed like lightning through the dark zombie storm, Tenseiga’s radiant blue blade cutting loose the souls of the possessed corpses as it sliced. In a matter of minutes, Kagome could feel the pressure above her lessening.

Through the thinning swarm of enemies, she looked toward Kagura and the summit—only to realize that the barrier was gone.

“Is there another way out of the fortress?” she whispered urgently to the Elder wolf, who nodded.

“A small, hidden gate, which lies on the far side of the mountain.”

“I knew it!” Kagome breathed, her eyes going to the wolf prince. “Kouga-kun—the barrier’s vanished. Can you make a break for Kagura? If you attack her, I think her spell will be interrupted!”

Kouga grinned savagely. “My pleasure.”

He shot like a bullet through the whirling enemy swarm, blood spraying from the cuts on his arms and face as he hurtled toward Kagura. Her red eyes widened at his high-speed charge, her fingers quickly wrenching a feather from her hair—but not quickly enough. Dust rose as he slammed her into the mountainside, the zombies falling from the air like nails at his strike. As the undead pushed to their feet and began to advance on the living once more, Kagome dropped her own defensive barrier.

“Sesshoumaru!” she cried, the moment the daiyoukai landed before her. “We need to get to the far side of the mountain right now—I think the demon who cast the barrier is trying to escape through the back gate!” She turned to Ayame and her grandfather. “Can you guys hold off these zombies on your own for a while?”

“‘Zombies’…?” Ayame repeated with a furrowed brow, nodding all the same as her grandfather growled his assent.

As the wolves went to battle against their undead brothers, Sesshoumaru and Kagome took to the sky. Swift as he was, Entei was just a little swifter, Kagome rounding the mountain slightly ahead of the demon lord. Somewhere far behind them, she could just make out Jakken’s despaired wail as they left him in the dust of their dust.

“Kagome,” Sesshoumaru said with sudden solemnity as they circled around and up, “your power has magnified.”

Her heart stuttered a little as she glanced over at him. “R-really? You think so…?”

Levelly, he met her gaze. “I was wrong,” he said, the low tone of his voice giving her poor heart a few more erratic palpitations, “to doubt you.”

This guy was going to take years off her life, no question about it. Kagome’s lashes lowered slightly as she looked at him.

“Sesshoumaru…”

But whatever she had been about to say next would have to wait. As they ascended the far side of the peak, a familiar figure met them halfway, its immense misshapen form blotting out the sun as it emerged from the side of the mountain. Sesshoumaru tensed, Kagome curling her fingers into Entei’s flickering mane.

_Mouryoumaru_.


	21. Chapter Twenty-One

**Chapter Twenty-One**

Naraku’s incarnation eyed Sesshoumaru and Kagome warily in turn, his leathery wings drawing to sharp-tipped points as he hovered in midair. The mottled gray armor Kagome had blasted off during their previous showdown had mostly regenerated—save for a sizable crack in the very center, approximately where her reiki-infused spear had struck. Through the gap, something faintly glimmered, the miko gasping as she reached out with her spiritual senses.

It had been sleeping during their first encounter, but now it was awake—its lavender eyes staring back at her through the miasmic darkness of Mouryoumaru’s interior. She could see now that the chimera-like monster before them was nothing more than a shell: This creature at its center was Naraku’s _true_ incarnation—the true architect of the barrier. And the true threat. Peering closer, she saw that the demon had the form of a silver-haired infant, its tiny pale hands curled around a bauble of deep, glowing blue.

 _That stone…that must be how its concealing the youki around it…_ Kagome surmised narrowly.

As the infant’s purple gaze narrowed at her as well, she felt a cold grip steal over her, her hand rising to her chest as dark icy fingers clenched around her heart. _His heart_ , she realized numbly as her breath fled her lungs in a fine mist, her blood freezing to slush in her veins. The world around her fell away. All she could see before her were shadows and gore. All she could hear were the screams of her dying friends, and the laughter of her enemy…

“No…” she whimpered, hunching forward. “ _No!_ ”

“ _Kagome,_ ” a distant voice called out.

Warm and strong, a clawed hand at her shoulder drew her back. Trembling violently, she grasped dreamlike for her bow as she straightened, the last remnants of her nightmarish vision dispersing like ink in water at the bowstring’s resonant thrum. Her arrow arced brightly toward the hole in Mouryoumaru’s chest, shearing straight through the tentacle that rose to intercept it. A mere inch from impact, the projectile crashed against the raised red curve of a barrier, the infant’s expression gloating as her reiki fizzled out before it in a shower of harmless sparks.

Panting heavily, Kagome lowered her weapon, turning desperately to Sesshoumaru as his hand fell from her shoulder. “Mouryoumaru…he’s—Sesshoumaru, he’s nothing more than a golem! It’s what’s inside of him that’s Naraku’s actual incarnation.”

“Perceptive girl,” the golem sneered, his tentacled arm turning to crystal. “But the knowledge will do you little good.”

Entei feinted right as a flurry of poisonous shards shot toward them, Kagome setting her jaw as she readied another arrow. “You talk a big game, but in case you missed it earlier, that barrier of yours isn’t going to cut it,” she said, letting her power flare. “That’s why you’re making a break now—because you’re too weak to face us. You were hoping to have time to heal up here, lure Kouga-kun in, and take his Jewel shards, weren’t you? But even with all that,” she barreled on, her eyes glittering through the glow of her reiki, “you’d still never be strong enough to defeat your maker. Let alone us.”

Mouryoumaru’s expression darkened, his shoulder splitting open toward her in a noxious vortex of green. “Insolent mortal. I will melt your worthless flesh from your bones.”

Kagome dug her knees into Entei’s flanks, her hair whipping out in front of her as the equine youkai set his fiery hooves against the vortex’s pull. The radiant arrow she fired off streaked straight into the acid-green void, an _eep_ of fright escaping her as she put up her weapon and clung to Entei instead. Just as the horse began to lose traction, Sesshoumaru suddenly appeared, lunging at the smirking golem from his unprotected, opposite side. Blazing crimson, Tessaiga blasted straight through the infant’s barrier, sending Mouryoumaru careening deep into the mountainside in an explosive crash.

Entei glided abruptly to a halt. Peeling herself up from his back, Kagome flashed the daiyoukai a sheepish grin as he flew to her side. “That shoulder vacuum...it’s seriously no joke.”

Sesshoumaru frowned, clearly not in the mood for her attempts at levity. “This will be no short battle. You should return to the wolves.” And now his tone _did_ turn vaguely dry. “No doubt they are already in desperate need of your assistance.”

Kagome stared at him. “You…you want me to go back on my own?”

The frown in his voice returned. After a moment of heavy pause, he reached toward the sash at his side. “Take this with you.”

Her eyes widened as he pressed the sword hilt into her hands. “Tenseiga?”

“It will protect you,” he said shortly, turning away from her, toward the crumbling, cratered slope where Mouryoumaru had landed. “Now, go.”

Kagome bit her lip, gazing hesitantly at the blade he’d given her. Heart pounding, she strapped it behind her, mustering more insane courage than she ever had before as she urged Entei forward, wheeling around in front of Sesshoumaru. His golden eyes widened fractionally as she gripped the spiked edge of his chestplate.

“Sesshoumaru,” she said fiercely, “no matter what, you have to destroy him. _All_ of him. That thing inside Mouryoumaru—that infant…” She swallowed tightly, her own chest constricting at the memory of its icy touch. “It’s Naraku’s heart. Finish it off, and it’s game over for him—I’m certain of it.”

Before the daiyoukai could reply, her mad adrenaline rush propelled her forward still, her mouth pressing swiftly to his as Entei sped her away toward the other side of the mountain.

Giddy despite the circumstances, Kagome grinned as she and her equine companion rounded the frost-rimed slope once more. Part of her couldn’t believe she’d just stolen a kiss from Sesshoumaru—the other part of her couldn’t believe she’d actually gotten away with it. Based on the simmering disgruntlement she could sense from Entei, the horse youkai seemed similarly disbelieving.

“Sorry, Entei-san,” she mumbled, her lips still twitching in a grin.

Puffing out a thin breath of flame, the horse began to descend as they reached the leeward slope at last. On the ground near the fortress gates, she could see Kouga fighting with Kagura still, his powerful legs propelling him off the surrounding walls and ledges as he lunged and slashed, the sorceress countering his attacks with white-edged twisters and serrated blades of wind. Looking beyond them, Kagome saw the battle lines Kouga’s and Ayame’s packmates—along with Jakken and Ah-Un—had drawn toward the center of the plateau, as they fought to hold back the zombie horde’s relentless advance.

“ _Wench!_ ” the imp shrilled in what might possibly have been joy—it was difficult to say when he shrilled at _everything—_ as she and Entei soared past, her bow already strung with a flaming pink arrow.

The living wolves fell back as she released the rippling bolt of reiki, obliterating a couple of ranks of Kagura’s undead legion in one blazing swoop. As the next few scores of enemies ranged forward, her allies herded and drove them back for Kagome to purge their souls free with yet another arrow blast. She and the others continued on in this pattern for some time, until at last the far end of the plateau came into view. Kagome breathed out a sigh of relief, her quiver running dangerously low as she dug around for one arrow more.

Summoning forth a finishing burst of reiki, she purified the last of the poor possessed corpses away, her wolf friends howling victoriously at the sight. Landing with a weary smile, Kagome found herself swarmed at once by two-legged and four-legged canines, Entei neighing futilely in protest as he was swept up along with her. Spiritually and physically exhausted as she was, Kagome’s heart swelled with triumph.

 _We did it_ — _we took back the mountain!_

“Miko,” the wolf Elder said with his characteristic gravity, the others parting deferentially as he approached her, “we are in your debt. How can we repay you for your service to us?”

“Oh, there’s no need for that!” Kagome blurted, waving her hands with a blush.

Ayame’s grandfather bowed his shaggy, adorable head. “I insist.”

“Well,” she said, feeling her eyes getting all misty as she looked at him, “could I maybe…scratch behind your ears for a bit?”

The surrounding wolves gaped at her in shock.

“Humans are strange indeed…” the Elder muttered, padding over to her nonetheless.

His heavy brow sagged as Kagome petted him indulgently, the rest of the wolves looking on in bewildered fascination. Only Ayame stood apart from the crowd, her green eyes glimmering in concern as she watched Kouga’s distant battle with Kagura rage on. With his natural strength and the supernatural swiftness the Jewel shards imparted to him, Kagome hadn’t even considered that he might be in real danger—until now.

“Ayame-san…?” she ventured cautiously—just before the wolf girl took off with a sudden cry.

In the wake of her white cyclone, Kagome’s own much-less-keen eyes widened with panic a minute later—as she saw Kouga hit the ground in a spray of red.

“ _Kouga-onii-sama!_ ” Ginta and Hakkaku wailed in terror, sprinting off after Ayame.

Mounting Entei in a rush, Kagome raced toward the opposite end of the plateau as well. She had nearly caught up with Ayame when the extent of Kouga’s injuries came into graphic view. Her eyes stung at the deep gouges scoring his right side, the rock around him streaked and gleaming with blood. Rolled over onto his left hip, Kouga coughed wetly, ribbons of scarlet streaming down from the corners of his lips as he braced himself on a shaking forearm.

Feral blue eyes glared hard at Kagura through a sheen of agony, the wind witch returning the look with a brittle smile. Approaching him, she bent down, her slim white fingers plucking a dislodged Jewel shard from one of the spills of red. For a moment she contemplated the bloodied fragment before raising her fan again.

“Now,” she said, kicking the wolf prince onto his back, “for the _other_.”

“Kouga-kun!” Kagome yelled, fumbling desperately for an arrow.

Her fingers had just brushed the fletching when the white cyclone ahead of her shot forward like a rocket, blasting Kagura off her feet. Standing protectively over Kouga with katana drawn, Ayame panted as the torrents of wind dissipated around her, her brilliant green eyes staring ferociously into those of the prone sorceress. Releasing a captive breath, Kagome landed a short distance away.

“…Ayame?” Kouga murmured faintly.

The wolf girl’s gaze softened down at him before fixing on her enemy once again. “ _Witch,_ ” she growled, “you’ll not lay another _finger_ on my fiancé.”

Gritting her teeth, the wind sorceress rose, her hand reaching for the one remaining feather in her hair. A dark cloud of dust swirled out as she snapped the feather down, Kagome and Ayame shielding their eyes against the sooty gale. As the dust settled, Kagura hovered above them, her feather aircraft materialized beneath her.

“Well, it’s been fun,” she smirked, the Jewel shard glittering between her thumb and forefinger. “But I think I’ll take my leave now if you don’t mind.”

In a gust of wind, Kagura took off, Ayame chasing after her a few steps. “Damn it…she’s going to escape!”

“We’ll see about that,” Kagome bit out, Entei kicking off from the ground. “You just take care of Kouga-kun, okay?”

“Okay,” the wolf girl replied uncertainly as a weeping Ginta and Hakkaku caught up to her at last, falling to their knees at their wounded prince’s side. “…You take care too, Kagome-san.”

Smiling slightly, Kagome nodded back before lifting her gaze toward the fleeing sorceress. Lowering his fiery-maned head, Entei charged forward at record speed, Kagura swerving aside as Kagome cut her off in midair.

“Give it up, Kagura,” the miko challenged, her nocked arrow igniting in her fingertips. “You’re not getting away.”

Crimson eyes simmered in irritation. “So, you managed to strike down a child and take his pony, did you?” Her razor-edged fan snapped open menacingly. “Let’s see how you fare against someone your own size—well, maybe not _quite_ your size.”

Kagome reddened as she let her arrow fly, the right edge of Kagura’s aircraft singeing off as she narrowly dodged the strike. “I really don’t appreciate that remark.” Flooding her bow with reiki, she knocked a flurry of wind-blades aside as she charged at Kagura again. “I also don’t appreciate how you _look_ at certain people, you sleazy hag!”

The wind witch ducked to avoid Entei’s flaming stampede, a dark, scornful chuckle leaving her painted lips. “ _Certain_ people?” Her voice lilted in false sweetness. “…Could you mean _Sesshoumaru-sama_?”

Kagome bristled, whipping around. “Yeah. That’s _exactly_ who I mean.” Prepping another arrow, she glared. “Anyway, you can keep that roving eye of yours to yourself— _he’s_ taken!”

A brief look of surprise crossed Kagura’s face. As she opened her mouth to reply, the sky around them suddenly darkened. Kagome’s arrow dimmed as she followed the wind sorceress’s anxious gaze upward. High above them both, an enormous swarm of youkai gathered, obscuring the sun in a massive, malevolent cloud. With a sharp cry, the demoness hunched over, clutching the center of her chest in obvious pain.

“…Kagura?” Kagome hesitated, lowering her weapon a fraction.

The wind witch’s eyes screwed shut as she whispered bitterly to herself, “…Such a fool. There never was a chance for me.”

 _A chance?_ Kagome wondered with a frown. _Kagura, were you…were you hoping to win your freedom from Naraku as well?_

Crimson eyes flew open as the summoned youkai began to descend, Kagura’s tormented gaze piercing into hers. With a vicious slash of her fan, the wind sorceress sped off toward the far side of the mountain, her parting attack crashing into Kagome with hurricane force. The miko’s half-raised barrier shattered beneath the assault, her bow ripping from her hands as she was torn from Entei’s back. 

Bearing the brunt of the attack, Entei smashed hard into the side of the mountain, Kagome continuing to fall past him with increasing speed. A scream trailed from her lips as she plummeted helplessly toward the ground far, far below—when, suddenly, her free-fall ended, the air leaving her lungs in a winded _oomph_.

Sitting up breathlessly, Kagome rubbed at her stinging back, her eyes wide with wonder. “… _Jakken_?” As the imp cast her a withering glance over his shoulder, she lunged for him across Ah-Un’s scaly spine, seizing him in a smothering hug. “You saved me!”

The imp choked and struggled in her hold, his cheeks flaring puce as he finally managed to wriggle free. “Unhand me, wench! It was merely a repayment—this Jakken refuses to be indebted to a human!”

Kagome smiled obligingly. “Okay, okay—I get it. We’re even.”

As the imp huffed and righted his skewed cap, she scanned anxiously around for Entei, her tense features relaxing as his familiar orange-and-white form glided toward them. Shaking dust and bits of slate from his luxurious mane, the horse youkai alighted wearily on the dragon’s back as well.

“Oh, Entei-san!” Kagome exclaimed, throwing her arms around his blazing neck. “I was so worried…” Peering up at the dark cloud of demons bearing down on them, she gulped. “Scratch that—I’m _still_ worried. Jakken! We need to get back to the fortress.”

Quailing at the sight of the youkai horde as well, the imp hopped back into the saddle and scrabbled for Ah-Un’s reins. This time, the two-headed dragon didn’t need much coercing. Caught off guard, Kagome lurched forward as the normally unhurried beast plunged down toward the plateau at breakneck speed. They hit the ground like a ton of bricks, the passengers tumbling off on impact.

“Kagome-san!” Ayame called out in concern, her arms tightening around Kouga’s unconscious form.

Woozy, Kagome picked herself up as the other wolves rushed over, more than a few worried muzzles lifting toward the darkened sky. “We’ve got company,” she rasped out, pointing toward the encroaching demon horde.

The Elder wolf nodded gravely, turning to the fortress. “Let us take cover at once.”

As the wolves pushed open the towering stone gates, Ginta and Hakkaku lifted Kouga between them. After carefully passing off her fiancé, Ayame approached Kagome and Entei. Frowning, the miko shook her head.

“Kagura escaped with the Jewel shard.” Her troubled gaze rose toward the mountain summit—beyond which the wind witch had fled, and where Sesshoumaru was fighting still. “I’m sorry, Ayame-san.”

“You’ve done more than enough for us,” the wolf girl said sincerely, taking Kagome briefly by the wrist as she turned. “Now, let’s go—we need to get inside with the others.”

Nodding, the miko climbed aboard Entei. As they raced with Ayame ahead of the impending youkai storm, the miko forced herself to stay focused. While she wanted nothing more than to rejoin Sesshoumaru, she was unarmed and running on empty. The best thing she could do for both of them was to hunker down with the others and wait.

“Where did all those demons come from, anyway?” the wolf demoness asked.

“Naraku,” Kagome replied, remembering Kagura’s agonized expression. “I’m sure it was him…”

As they swept through the gates with the demon swarm on their heels, the wolves leapt to action, closing and barring the gigantic doors behind them. For a moment, Kagome stared in awe at the space before her—an expansive, glittering cavern at least five times as large as Kouga’s den. Standing bronze sconces lit the dwelling, illuminating the mounted arms and ornate engravings, the rich hides and the shimmering, reflective pool at the cavern’s center.

On a striped hide near the entrance, Kouga lay, his loyal packmates hovering around him. Ayame went to him at once, the wolf prince’s eyes sliding open toward her as she took up his claws in her own.

Kagome slipped down from Entei with a tired smile. Turning away, she led her horse companion over to Jakken and Ah-Un, the pair of them collapsing next to the imp against the dragon’s warm belly. Outside, she could hear the vast array of demons raining against the front wall of the fortress like some sort of vicious, malignant hail. Her brow creased with worry as she caught the white wolf’s eye.

“The gates _will_ hold, won’t they?” she asked Ayame’s grandfather.

“Our ritual wards were dispelled during the invasion. It will take time to reinstate them,” the Elder answered. Judging by the weight of his look, he seemed to share her concern.

Together, they watched the stone doors creak and grind. The collective force of such a swarm was immense, but these were base, mindless youkai—disorganized and undirected, driven only by their own mad, selfish desires to possess the Shikon fragment in Kouga’s left leg.

…Or so she thought.

All of a sudden, the pressure against the gates abated—only to return with many times the strength as the demons struck as one. A crack formed in the stone beam barring the doors, Kagome and the Elder both leaping to their feet as the others backed away in trepidation.

“The wards!” Ayame’s grandfather barked toward the center of the cavern, where a group of wolves knelt before a fang-shaped altar. “We must raise them now!”

“We are trying, Elder-sama,” the beta wolf panted in reply, his gaze slanting dubiously toward Jakken. “Perhaps a sacrifice would accelerate the process…”

The imp squeaked, taking cover behind Kagome. Striding past her, the Elder approached the altar himself.

“That one’s blood is not sufficient to the task.” Jakken made an indignant sound, Kagome tensing as the Elder bowed his head. “We shall use mine.”

“Grandfather, _no_!” Ayame cried.

“There is no other way,” the white wolf replied somberly. “The gates must be sealed.”

Kagome’s breath lodged in her throat. _Sealed_ …

“Wait!” she shouted, running forward. “Don’t kill anyone—I have an idea!”

Barreling past a couple of baffled wolves, Kagome made for the straining stone doors. The central cross-beam had nearly buckled. As the tide of demons outside surged back once more, Kagome drew in a breath, her mind clearing as she braced her hands one on each door.

 _Lock the gate_ , she thought, channeling her dwindling reserves of reiki to her palms. _Doesn’t get much more straightforward than that…_

Her power spread out in a muted glow, coating the cracked gates in a dappled sheen of pink. As the battering ram of youkai struck again, her seal held fast, the rectangle of light shivering faintly as it absorbed the enemy attack.

“Gramps, look—Kagome-san’s sealed the gates!” Ayame called back in relief.

“Miko, how long will your spell hold?” the wolf Elder asked as he returned to her side.

“I-I’m not sure—but I’ll keep it in place for as long as I can!”

Gritting her teeth, Kagome leaned forward, reinforcing the seal as the enemy horde charged the gates again. Her palms and brow sweated from exertion, her weary soul aching as its essence continued to bleed out through her scalding fingertips.

 _Sesshoumaru…_ she thought desperately as she paused to catch her breath. … _Sesshoumaru, please be safe._

 **xXxXxXx**  

_Meanwhile…_

She would be the death of him, that accursed girl.

Sesshoumaru leapt up, whirling as he released another brilliant wave of kenatsu at Mouryoumaru. Tentacles still smoking from the last attack, the golem deflected the wave with his crystalline right limb, the force of Tessaiga’s strike driving him into the distance nonetheless. Lightly, Sesshoumaru landed on a jagged perch of rock, his reddened eyes narrowing as he stoked even more of his power into the rippling blade.

Even now, he could feel the shadow of Kagome’s kiss upon him. Bitterly, he labored beneath it, Tessaiga blazing so strongly in his hand that he was forced to keep the sword at a distance. As the battle with Mouryoumaru raged on, it was not the golem nor his master that Sesshoumaru warred against.

It was the red tide of his own lust that threatened to consume him, that clashed so fiercely against his controlled sense of self. Unhinged, he blasted off another chunk of Mouryoumaru’s armor without conscious thought or care. The creature reeled with a resounding roar, yet it was nothing compared to the din in Sesshoumaru’s own blood—a howling need that bellowed at him to abandon the fight, abandon the sword, abandon his honor and go to her.

Not as the Inu no Taishou had gone to Izayoi.

He needed to make her understand. He needed to prove—

 _I am_ not _my father_ , Sesshoumaru roared back at her—at _himself_ —as the sky darkened above him, his raw, unfettered desperation burning through Tessaiga and scorching him in turn.

He felt mad. Perhaps he was. A gravelly laugh escaped him as a barrage of glassy shards shattered what remained of his armor to pieces. Taking to the air again, he charged straight toward Mouryoumaru, Tessaiga wreathed in lashing golden flames. The golem’s dark eyes widened as Sesshoumaru brought the blade down upon him in a brutish, savage blow.

Mouryoumaru’s adamant arm exploded upon impact, splinters of crystal shearing through Sesshoumaru’s sleeves and skin. Not even pausing at the miasma’s sear, the daiyoukai whipped the enflamed sword back once more—obliterating his enemy in a fiery arc of pure power that ripped Mouryoumaru apart at the crack in his chest.

The infant lurking within had long since recalled its barrier to protect itself. In the wake of the golem’s destruction, Naraku’s incarnation glared up at him, housed in its orb of shimmering crimson still. Tessaiga flared red in answer.

Wrenching up the fang with both blackened hands, Sesshoumaru seethed as a sudden gust of wind forced him back.

“Kagura…” he growled.

The wind sorceress frowned deeply as she gathered Naraku’s incarnation into her arms. With the infant’s stone of concealment, Sesshoumaru had been unable to detect her approaching youki.

He should have been watching, but his bestial recklessness had left him more than blind. Kagura could have struck him down. She _should_ have struck him down in his distraction. The fact that she had not was of no consolation to him.

He was afflicted and unfit. _Unworthy_.

Tessaiga wavered in his hold. It was in this crippling moment of self-doubt, of self-conflict, that he stared into Naraku’s heart. Its dark resentment mirrored his own. Thin venemous claws sank through his chest. He could see Kagome, torn and abused, her eyes glazed and dim as she looked endlessly toward him, the black pool of blood beneath her spreading and spreading, filling his mouth, his lungs—

Abruptly, the image vanished, the infant cursing as Kagura’s fan shaded its eyes, putting it at once to sleep. With one last inscrutable glance, the wind sorceress fled, but Sesshoumaru scarcely noticed—let alone moved to pursue her. Undivided and resolute, his attention was riveted on the other side of the mountain, on the dark cloud of youki descending upon it—and on the fading light of Kagome’s presence.

His vision cleared as he circled the summit, Tessaiga radiant and poised in his hand. He thought only of her as he drew to a halt before the parting storm of a thousand demons, the technique his father had used to fell a hundred destroying them all, as Sesshoumaru unleashed his Wind Scar at last.

**xXxXxXx**

Kagome’s lungs shook violently as she exhaled, black spots flecking her vision. Sucking in another shallow breath, she blinked the spots away with difficulty and continued to pour out her soul into the seal. She could feel herself slowly sinking, her knees buckling beneath the effort of sustaining the gates against yet another seismic assault.

 _Just a little longer_ , she told herself again, as the darkness threatened to eclipse her altogether.

The flow of her reiki reduced to the faintest trickle. Reaching deep within herself, she tapped desperately into her own life force, her teeth grinding in agony as she bled the very last of her strength into the gates. The square of light glowed brilliant white, tears of blood trailing from the corners of her eyes.

But even this sacrifice was not enough.

Demonic energy hurtled toward the fortress—vaster and stronger than ever before. It swept forward in a mighty, terrible wave, and with icy dread, Kagome knew—she knew that there was no way she could stand against it.

“…Get back!” she yelled hoarsely behind her. “ _Now!_ ”

The wolves yelped and scrambled, Kagome stumbling back herself as white light blasted through the stone double doors. Her seal vaporized like mist, her arms rising futilely to shield her as the blinding tidal wave of youki crashed into her head-on.

 _This is it_ , she thought numbly, her irises going pale.

Unbridled demonic power seared her through. Her soul screamed in anguish as her heart cried out—

And the sword at her back pulsed in answer.

Kagome’s skin cooled, blue light rising up all around her. Clashing against the wall of Tenseiga’s radiance, the roiling white blaze before her stilled and smothered, fading away like smoke.

The young miko collapsed to her knees. As the vaporous wisps of youki cleared, she raised a trembling hand to her chest. Standing upon the crumbled remains of the fortress gates, with transformed fang still gleaming in hand, was Sesshoumaru.

His armor was gone, his pale skin and clothes streaked with dust and blood. Tousled and dingy, his hair hung wildly about him, the tips of his messy bangs spiking down into his scintillating eyes. He looked dirty, ferocious, unkempt and untamed—and somehow more lovely to her than he had ever looked before.

As the wolves hung warily back from him, Kagome staggered to her feet. Lightly, he leapt down from the pile of rubble. His fierce gaze held hers as she stepped forward to meet him, falling against his chest with a sigh.

“Sesshoumaru…”

Tightly, she closed her eyes, her fingers clutching at the dense, dusty silk of his haori. A clawed hand around her upper arm drew her back. Lashes lowered, Sesshoumaru studied her face, his eyes lingering at the blood on her cheeks before returning to hers—his gaze softer now, but no less intent. Kagome’s lips parted slightly, her pulse quickening as his breath mingled with hers.

“Oh, _milord_!”

Brow twitching, Kagome glared down, Sesshoumaru’s golden eyes slanting along with hers. Latched around the daiyoukai’s leg, Jakken stared up at his lord in sheer adoration, oily tears streaming down his pinched green face.

“Ugh,” Kagome groused, attempting to pry him off with her foot. “You’re ruining the moment!”

The imp swatted back at her before his eyes went wide somewhere south of her neck. Puzzled, Kagome followed the direction of his scandalized gaze—gasping when she saw that the front of her haori had been burned wide open by Sesshoumaru’s attack. Shiny and bright blue, her back-up bra glared out through the gap, the swells of her breasts brimming over the tops of cups which were just a tad bit too small these days.

As a bead of blood ran down Jakken’s beak, Kagome punted him away, her arms hugging about herself in stark mortification. Dimly, unpleasantly, she reflected that Sesshoumaru’s retainer had seen almost as much of her naked skin as _he_ had…

Sheathing Tessaiga at last, the daiyoukai shrugged out of his patterned haori and draped it over her. She smiled weakly in thanks as he gathered her to him and turned toward the gaping fortress wall, but wherever he had been about to take her, she would never know—because it was at that moment, safe and secure in the arms of the demon she loved, that Kagome passed out cold.


	22. Chapter Twenty-Two

**Chapter Twenty-Two**

Kagome’s eyelids felt like sheets of lead as she cracked them slowly open, her throat as dry and parched as the Sahara. Shifting a bit, she felt the pillow behind her move—and realized, as Sesshoumaru’s stoic face swam into view, that it wasn’t a pillow  _at all_. A blush tinged her cheeks as she eased herself up stiffly on her elbows, his tail molding against her shoulders to support her.

“…Thanks,” she rasped shyly as he pressed a cup of water into her hands. After a few blessed sips, she attempted to speak again. “How long was I out?”

“Two days,” the daiyoukai answered curtly.

Kagome spluttered. “ _Two_  days?!”

Sesshoumaru winced slightly at her shrillness, the miko grimacing in apology. Though his youkai clothes were mended once more, he still looked decidedly rough—his fair features as besmirched and haggard as they’d been before she’d lost consciousness. Studying him as discreetly as she could over the rim of her cup, Kagome flushed anew.

_Has he stayed by my side this whole time…?_

All the giddy heat bled from her face at the chill of his gaze. “You were on the brink of death. What were you thinking, exhausting yourself to such an extent?”

Now it was Kagome’s turn to wince. “…Sorry, I—I just didn’t know what else to do. Things were desperate. Ayame’s grandpa and some other guy were talking about making blood sacrifices to reinforce the gates—I couldn’t stand by and let that happen.”

Snatching back her empty cup, Sesshoumaru refilled it with a glare. “So, you would sacrifice yourself instead? On behalf of these… _mongrels_.”

“They aren’t  _mongrels_ ,” Kagome returned hotly, gulping down half the cup in one go. “They’re my friends.”

Sesshoumaru scoffed. Posted nearby, two so-called 'mongrels' bristled as well, the daiyoukai quelling them with a look.

“Bring some food for the girl,” he ordered coolly.

At once, the frightened wolves scampered off through the arched doorway, the thick hide curtain slapping shut behind them. Finishing her drink sullenly, Kagome took a moment to look around. The chamber she and Sesshoumaru were in appeared to be an offshoot of the main cavern—a sparkling grotto peppered with candles and outfitted with a bed of luxurious, exotic pelts. Toward the back of the room, she could even see steam rising from a small, private onsen, its dark glassy surface reflecting the light from a bronze lantern perched on its ledge.

Kagome’s vexation toward Sesshoumaru simmered into something else entirely, her heart pounding as she darted a nervous glance at him.  _It’s like the Feudal Era equivalent of a honeymoon suite in here…_

Eyes darkening, Sesshoumaru returned her look with predatory sharpness. As the wolves reentered, a low growl sent them fleeing once more, the huge platter they’d been carrying between them clanging to the granite floor. The savory scent of roasted meat had Kagome’s mouth watering at first whiff. Forgetting all about her  _other_  appetites, she practically pounced on the meal—which appeared to be a small pterodactyl, judging by the sheer size of its wings.

“Hmm,” she said, prodding at the roasted fowl uncertainly. Without any sort of utensils, this was going to be a challenge…

Sighing in impatience, Sesshoumaru reached out, ripping off a caveman-sized drumstick and handing it to her. As Kagome feasted like a barbarian, amber eyes preyed on  _her_ , jitters of desire fluttering low in her stomach as her pace began to slow. Lowering the gnawed hunk of meat, she downed her last bite in a panicky swallow, seizing around for something to say.

“Your tail…it’s gotten a lot bigger, hasn’t it?”

Sesshoumaru leaned back from her, his expression contemplative as he drew Tessaiga. The rusted blade gleamed in the candlelight. “My power has surpassed my father’s. His title is now my own.”

Kagome crooked a smile. “So…does that mean I have to start calling you ‘Inu no Taishou’?”

The daiyoukai’s look was dry. “It would—if ever you were to address me by title in the first place.”

Her smile broadened as he returned Tessaiga to its sheath. He didn’t seem angry with her anymore, at least. Even though there was a frown on his face, she knew, somehow, that it wasn’t directed at her.

“Kagura escaped with the infant,” he said after a while, a curious edge to his tone. “I chose not to pursue her.”

“Oh.” Kagome’s shoulders sank. Biting her lip, she hazarded a glance at him. “…Why not?”

Clawed fingers pulled the forgotten drumstick from her hand. Dropping it back on the platter, he hooked a knuckle beneath her chin, the pad of his thumb swiping a bit of grease from the corner of her mouth. “I chose to protect you, instead.”

Kagome reddened. “Oh,” she said lamely, again.

His tail curved around her hips as he bent toward her. “Does that make me foolish?” he asked her lowly. “I feel like a fool.”

“You’re not a fool,” Kagome whispered, touching a shiny hand to his dirty cheek, her fingertips smudging their prints into his skin.

She had never looked less sexy in her life—even without a mirror around, Kagome knew this for a fact. But as she gazed into his eyes, the raw desire reflected there left her breathless long before he crushed his lips to hers, the hungry prick of his fangs sending jolts of heat lancing straight to her groin.

Had he spent the past two days awaiting this moment? The thought sent a shiver of pure arousal coursing through her. She could only imagine how pent-up he must be. There was no way he  _wasn’t_ going to unload all that on her—or  _in_  her, her mind corrected perversely.

_Thank Kami for birth control_ , Kagome thought—her eyes flaring wide with horror an instant later.

“ _Oh gods!_ ” she gasped, shoving him back with both hands. “ _Two days—_ I’ve skipped TWO WHOLE DAYS! Not okay— _not okay!_ ”

In the face of this total freak-out, even Sesshoumaru was momentarily stunned. Lurching to her feet, Kagome sprinted barefoot from the room, her horse companion looking up from his snack of hay as she barreled into the main cavern.

“Entei-san!” she panted, swinging up onto his back like there was another force of a thousand demons upon them. “We have to find my backpack—ASAP!”

Puffing out a small cloud of smoke, the horse youkai rose grudgingly into the air.

By now, the rubble had all been cleared, but there was still a gigantic hole in the front wall of the fortress, courtesy of Sesshoumaru’s Wind Scar. Wolves on the ground and up on wooden ladders waved heartily to Kagome as she flew past, the magic of the restored wards rippling coolly across her skin.

Outside the cavern, the plateau was clear of the remains of battle as well. A frown pulled at the miko’s lips at the thought of the wolf youkai gathering up the bones of their fallen brothers. With their souls freed from Kagura’s curse, Kagome hoped that the dead, and the living both, would at last find peace. And as for the wind sorceress—well,  _she_  still had a lot to answer for…

“Kagome-chan!” Kouga hailed her from the far end of the plateau. Standing atop one of two massive stone slabs, he seemed to be ‘supervising’ the other wolves’ door carving efforts. “Good to see you up at last.”

Kagome smiled back. “You too, Kouga-kun!”

Gliding down the mountain path, Entei touched to the ground not too far away from the plateau. Immediately, Kagome dismounted and began her frantic search.

“Where is it, where is it…”

With battle looming, Kagome had decided to stow her cumbersome pack away for safekeeping. Unfortunately,  _with battle looming_ , she hadn’t exactly been in the most organized frame of mind at the time she’d stowed it. As it turned out, the rock ‘marker’ she’d stood up to indicate its location looked pretty much the same as all the other rocks standing around.

Picking her way along the path, peeking behind every boulder and into every cliffside crack, she glanced up as Entei whinnied at her from much farther down the slope. Dubious, Kagome made her way over to him, a happy cry leaving her lips as he reached muzzle-first into a crevice in the flinty wall and tugged out her yellow sack.

“Thanks, Entei-san!” she said, giving him a grateful pat on the neck as she knocked back two pills at once. “You’re almost as good at this as Kouga-kun.”

It hadn’t escaped her notice, back in her room, that her missing bow had been miraculously recovered. Battered, but still surprisingly intact considering how far it must have fallen, the weapon had been resting on a stone shelf near her bed, a scrawled note tagged to it reading,  _Found this -Kouga._

Grinning at Entei’s affronted snort, she was just shouldering her pack when she met Ayame coming down the steep, winding path. Judging by the way the demoness was lightly dressed and panting, she must have just finished training.

“Ah, Kagome-san—you’re awake!” the wolf girl greeted, dashing a wrist across her sweaty brow. “I’m headed to the spring.” Green eyes swept briefly over the grimy miko. “…Why don’t you join me?”

Before Kagome could answer, Ayame was looping an arm through hers, Entei cantering along behind them as they went. A short distance away, the demoness veered to the side, pressing her fingers to a faint, flower-shaped indentation in the rock. The marking glowed as the illusory wall faded, revealing a carved archway.

“Wow!” Kagome gushed as they stepped through, a hidden spring emerging at the end of a small tunnel. “This is great!”

Skylit, the balmy water glittered in the sun, a few bright blue moths fluttering around the smooth silvery stones that banked it. Stripping down, Ayame slid into the water with a contented sigh, Kagome joining her a minute later. Lying down with one flank submerged, Entei went promptly to sleep, his orange tail flicking out at the occasional moth that landed on him.

“This was my mother’s private bath,” the wolf girl explained as she let down her long red hair, carefully setting aside the iris blossom at her ear. As Kagome extracted her bottle of shampoo, emerald eyes slanted toward her curiously. “What’s that?”

“It’s a special kind of soap—just for your hair.” The miko gave the bottle a shake. “Want to try some?”

Ayame nodded, holding out her hand as Kagome squeezed. “…This scent,” the wolf girl said, giving the dollop of shampoo a delicate sniff. “This is the scent you and Sesshoumaru-sama were wearing a few days ago, when you returned to camp together.”

Kagome blanched, the shampoo missing her palm by an inch. “Ah, you—you noticed…”

Ayame’s expression was contrite. “I’m sorry for acting so jealous toward you, Kagome-san. It’s obvious that Sesshoumaru-sama is your beau.”

“B-beau?” Kagome stammered, dropping the bottle altogether. “… _Obvious_?”

Ayame blinked, pausing mid-lather. “You mean…you’re not in love with him?”

The miko went scarlet, her voice coming out as little more than a squeak. “It’s not that…”

Abruptly, the demoness stood, green eyes flashing. Startled, Kagome drew back, although the shimmery soap bubbles somewhat dampened Ayame’s fierceness.

“So,  _he’s_  the one who won’t commit—typical.” Her arms snapped across her chest as she glared. “Kagome-san, take my advice: If you love him and he’s on the fence, you need to lock him down—like I did with Kouga-kun last night.”

“…Lock him down?” Kagome managed weakly, almost afraid to ask. “What do you—”

But Ayame was already plunging ahead, her eyes seizing Kagome’s intently. “You need to tell him that you love him.”

The miko gaped at her.  _Confess…to Sesshoumaru?!_

“Males are dense. You have to be direct with them,” Ayame continued matter-of-factly, a claw upraised for emphasis.

_I think yours might be a special case…_  Kagome thought with a sigh.

“Ayame-san, it’s more complicated than that…I’m a human.” She shook her head. “It could never work between us, trust me.”

“Have you even  _tried_?” the wolf girl asked shrewdly.

“Well,  _no,_ but—”

“Then how can you say for sure?”

Kagome glanced away. She had never even considered the possibility that Sesshoumaru might return her feelings. The best she had ever hoped for, after everything they had been through, was that he wouldn’t actively hate her.

All things considered, Kagome felt like they had made good progress on that front. The last thing she wanted to do was rock the boat. And yet…

“Tonight, after the victory feast,” Ayame declared as she slipped back down into the spring, her hands clasping Kagome’s. “I’ll help you, Kagome-san. You’ll have all the space you need to tell Sesshoumaru-sama how you feel.” The grin that pulled at her lips was downright wolfish. “And then…you can make him  _yours_.”

Kagome stared.  _So, that really_ is  _how things went down between her and Kouga-kun last night…_

**xXxXxXx**

After leaving the hidden hot spring, Kagome spent the rest of the afternoon avoiding Sesshoumaru. Her conversation with Ayame had set her nerves on edge, and just the merest glimpse of the demon lord or whisper of his approaching youki had the jittery miko glancing around for the nearest escape route. It was difficult to keep evading him in such relatively close quarters—fortunately, there was a lot of activity going on that plausibly demanded her attention.

She’d already conveniently excused herself to pray at the resting place of the departed with Ayame, to test the new protective wards with the Elder, and to bring Kouga and his packmates up to speed on all the latest information concerning Naraku and his movements. However, as the day wore on, Operation Avoid Sesshoumaru grew increasingly bleak, and Kagome’s escape efforts grew increasingly desperate.

“Ah, Jakken- _kun!_ ” she called up to the flabbergasted imp as soon as she saw a glimmer of white out of the corner of her eye.

Launching herself onto Entei’s back, she made a beeline for the summit stream where Jakken appeared to be buffing down Ah-Un’s saddle. Ignoring the horse youkai’s peevish look, she jogged over to Sesshoumaru’s retainer and more-or-less knocked him aside as she grabbed hold of the brush.

“Let me help you with that!” Kagome beamed, Jakken glaring up at her suspiciously from the bank.

“What’s gotten into you, ningen,” the imp grumbled as he straightened, rubbing his sore backside. “I never asked for your help!”

“Oh, be quiet,” the miko hissed, scrubbing vigorously at the saddle as Ah-Un drank on from the stream, uncaring. “Don’t you know how to accept a favor?”

“A  _favor?_ ” Jakken stamped his foot. “You aren’t even doing that properly! Sesshoumaru-sama will be most displeased.”

“Don’t be such a worry wart,” Kagome said with a wave. “And  _keep it down_ , already.”

As Jakken muttered and huffed, the two-headed dragon tensed, Kagome falling back with an  _eep_  as he took suddenly to wing. With a panicked wail, Jakken scrambled down the summit after his reptilian charge. Sprawled alone now on the bank with brush still in hand, Kagome stared mutely across the stream at Sesshoumaru.

For a heartbeat she held the daiyoukai’s hard golden gaze before springing to her feet and bolting toward Entei. But it seemed he was done being her getaway horse for the day—as he turned deftly on a hoof and kicked off from the ground before her in a shower of fizzling embers.

_Traitor,_  the miko sulked as she looked after him, a clawed grip on her collar steering her forcibly around.

“Oh, Sesshoumaru,” she said meekly, gazing up at his stony expression in what she hoped was a convincing display of innocence. “…Did you need something?”

His grip tightened as he hauled her closer. “Why have you been avoiding me?”

Kagome flinched, paling.  _So direct…_

Then she remembered that Ayame had used that very word as part of her ‘confession’ speech, and Kagome flushed bright red. Sesshoumaru’s gaze narrowed.

“Your behavior is particularly strange,” he stated, Kagome cartwheeling on the inside as he brought her face just before his, the tip of his claw pulling down her lower eyelid as he examined her. “How much of that  _medicine_  of yours did you take?”

“…Just enough, I hope,” she breathed out, unintentionally baring her neck to him as her dizzy head lolled to the side.

His energy shifted at the submissive gesture, going from intently agitated to merely… _intent_. Nervously, Kagome swallowed. It occurred to her now, in retrospect, that repeatedly running away from a predatory creature like him may not have been the wisest course of action.

“Perhaps,” he said, the warm flow of his breath over her bare, throbbing pulse confirming all her fears, “you merely wished for this Sesshoumaru to give chase.”

“D-don’t be silly,” she gasped, her palms fluttering to his chest. “I’ve just had a lot going on today!”

His glance was dubious. Hers was anxious. At the sound of Ayame hailing her from the plateau below, Kagome could have cried in relief.

“Kagome-san—I need your help with the preparations!”

Relaxing her death grip on Sesshoumaru’s haori, Kagome released a light, breezy laugh. “See?” she said over-brightly, pushing off from his chest as she bounded at once down the steep, brittle path. “Gotta run!”

Half-sliding the last few feet to the bottom, Kagome braced her hands on her knees and groaned, her heart still hammering away madly behind her breast.

_Boy, am I in trouble…_

**xXxXxXx**

“In you go!”

With a brisk shove, Ayame sent Kagome careening into the onsen with a splash. Spitting out a jet of water as she surfaced, the miko glowered.

“Was that really necessary?” she groused. “Anyway, I’ve already had a bath today!”

The wolf girl set her hands on her hips. “ _And?_  You’re covered in dust and sweat again. What were you doing this afternoon, running laps?”

Blushing, Kagome ducked her head.  _Pretty much…_

“Don’t you want to be at your best tonight,” Ayame asked, her voice turning sly, “when you seduce Sesshoumaru-sama?”

The heat of the onsen had nothing on the fire scalding across Kagome’s cheeks. A parade of the most absurd, clichéd mental images ensued: dropping a robe to the floor, crawling across the bed like a puma, indecently eating a lollipop—all while Sesshoumaru looked on with an arched brow. Clutching her head in her hands, Kagome whimpered inwardly. She really  _had_ watched way too many movies…

“…I thought the plan was to  _confess_  to him,” she ventured weakly.

“Well, yes,” Ayame conceded, pointing a claw between Kagome’s eyes, “but you still have to seal the deal, afterward.”

“Seal the…” Kagome wilted, sinking down into the pool.

The few bubbles breaking the water’s surface were the only indication that the submerged miko was still, in fact, alive. Truth was, she had absolutely  _no_  idea how to go about seducing Sesshoumaru—or if he was even ‘seducable’ in the first place. While they were already pretty intimately acquainted with one another, he had always been the one to initiate things between them. Would he even like it, if she were to come on to him instead?

While Kagome washed and deliberated, Ayame rifled through trunk after trunk, finally extracting a rather slinky kimono-like garment with a cry of success. Drying off, Kagome eyed the dark blue dress warily.

“It looks a little too small for me…” she muttered.

Ayame grinned. “ _Exactly_.”

Pushing aside her protests for the moment, Kagome started slipping on her underwear when the wolf girl argued her down on the grounds of not adding any more ‘impediments.’ Duly defeated, Kagome squeezed bra-and-panty-less into the tight-fitting, low-necked dress, the demoness clapping delightedly at the result.

“Perfect!” she said with a wink.

Futilely attempting to tug the deep blue V a little higher up on her chest, Kagome wasn’t so sure. But after brushing out the miko’s long wavy hair and studding it with a few winter blossoms, Ayame was herding Kagome out the hide door. Presumably waiting on his mate, Kouga stood leaning against a nearby wall, his blue eyes going comically wide at the sight of his scantily-clad former love interest. Frantically, he tore his gaze away—whether it was out of courtesy for Kagome or fear of Ayame was anyone’s guess.

“Kagome-chan,” he spoke faintly to the bronze sconce on his left, his high cheekbones tinged red. “Before the feast, there’s something I wanted to talk to you about.”

“Sure, Kouga-kun.” Blushing as well, Kagome crossed her arms, hoping to discreetly hide the effects that the main chamber’s drafty conditions were having on her bust. “What’s up?”

As a beaming Ayame slid her arm through his, the wolf prince stepped forward, his eyes carefully trained on Kagome’s face as he extended his closed right fist. Holding out her hand inquisitively, Kagome blinked in surprise when a glittering purple splinter dropped into her palm.

“Kouga-kun…” she whispered as the splinter glowed pink at her purifying touch. “You’re giving me your Jewel shard?”

“That’s right,” Kouga said, planting his free hand on his hip. “It’s yours now, Kagome-chan—a token of my thanks for all that you’ve done for us.”

“Then, you’re not coming with us, I take it?”

His eyes softened as they slanted down at his mate. “Sorry to let you down, Kagome-chan, but a promise’s a promise. I’ve decided to combine my pack with Ayame’s. It’s going to take some time to get everyone moved and settled up here.” Smirking, he met Kagome’s gaze with a glint of fang. “So I’m leaving Naraku up to you. Give him and that bitch Kagura my regards when you put them in the ground.”

Kagome grinned back. “Will do.”

Retrieving her old silver chain, she strung Kouga’s shard upon it and clasped the necklace in place. Touching a hand to the Jewel fragment resting above her heart, Kagome smiled.

_The Shikon Miko…back in business._

**xXxXxXx**

Night had fallen by the time Kagome made her way outside with the alpha couple. Newly raised, the replacement gates stood wide open in welcome, a huge bonfire blazing merrily just beyond them on the glittering plateau.

With one last cheery wink, Ayame steered Kouga away, leaving Kagome to fend for herself. Breath misting before her in the frigid air, the miko hurried straight for the warmth of the crackling flames—missing her fire-rat clothing now more than ever as the thin clingy silk of her kimono did absolutely nothing to ward off the chill.

Holding her hands out to thaw, Kagome looked around her with a contented smile. Already the victory celebrations were enthusiastically underway, boisterous wolves passing around sake bottles and chunks of meat in various stages of rawness between them. Politely declining a dripping string of entrails and a brimming cup of rice wine in turn, Kagome started as she turned—coming face-to-face with Sesshoumaru.

The daiyoukai took in her appearance with a measured glance, her shivers intensifying as his golden eyes rose from her plunging neckline. “Your choice of clothing seems unwise.”

Kagome’s trembling shoulders sank. Operation Seduce Sesshoumaru was certainly getting off to a rocky start.

“Just wanted to dress for the occasion,” she replied with a lukewarm grin.

“The occasion,” Sesshoumaru repeated dryly.

Stepping forward, he unwound his tail and settled it across her shoulders. The warm length of fur curled around her, her gooseflesh not dispelling in the slightest as he slid a claw beneath the Jewel pendant at her chest. “You have secured the wolf’s last shard.”

“Kouga-kun gave it to me,” she said softly. “He’s just married Ayame-san, and won’t be joining up with us to fight Naraku anymore.”

Golden eyes met hers as the flat of his nail trailed from her prickled skin. “Good.”

Kagome blushed at the intensity in his expression. As her nervous fingers clung to the dense fur wrapped around her, a young wolf youkai named Akito approached them and bowed.

“Sesshoumaru-sama, Kagome-sama,” he greeted deferentially, “Elder-sama wishes for you to join him for the feast.”

At the daiyoukai’s frosty silence, the wolf boy shrank, Kagome flashing him a reassuring smile as she stepped toward him. “We’d be honored, Akito-kun.”

Dismissing Sesshoumaru’s cool displeasure, she followed after the jumpy wolf, the daiyoukai accompanying her nonetheless. As Akito led them over to a platform draped with rich hides and flanked with brilliant gold candleabras, Kagome stared in confusion at the white-haired, white-clothed man seated seiza at the center, next to Kouga and Ayame.

“Er, sorry…who are you?” she asked, Akito flinching as Kouga let out a bark of laughter.

The stranger’s heavy white brow sagged further. “It is I.”

Kagome went beet red at the sound of that familiar rumble. “Ah, Elder-san! Sorry…I didn’t recognize you.”

Still chortling, Kouga wiped at his eyes, Ayame elbowing him in the ribs even as she struggled to suppress her own grin. With a particularly grave sigh, the Elder stood, gesturing with a clawed hand to the empty spot beside him.

“Please, sit.”

As Kagome and Sesshoumaru sat down on the platform, the rest of the wolves assembled before them, Jakken, Ah-Un and Entei seated off to the side. Somehow, the imp’s bulbous yellow eyes managed to protrude even further as he stared at the tail still coiled snugly around Kagome.

“Brothers, sisters, and honored guests,” the Elder began, taking up a cup of sake as he looked first to the wolves and then to the others, “let us toast—to victory and to home.”

“Here, here!” the wolves cheered, raising their cups as well.

“And to our noble friends,” the white wolf finished, looking to Sesshoumaru and Kagome again, “the Inu no Taishou and the Shikon Miko.” As an afterthought, his gaze fell to Jakken. “And to the imp. May they live long and well!”

As the wolves drank happily to this, Kagome took a sip and grinned as well, Jakken’s internal struggle between indignation and gratification playing out to great effect on his pinched green face. The dignified toast complete, the wolves’ bawdy celebrations resumed, food and sake flowing around freely once more. As Ayame practically tackled Kouga in a kiss, Akito presented the Elder with a large, pure silver hare, whose throat he deftly broke before offering the still-beating heart to Sesshoumaru. Slightly green, Kagome watched as the daiyoukai accepted it mannerly, devouring the bloody organ in one elegant bite.

Faced with a roasted version of what she could only assume was the poor rabbit’s next of kin, the nauseated miko took a single bite herself, sweat breaking out across her forehead as her lips twitched up in the most strained of smiles. Still licking the steamy blood from his claws, Sesshoumaru glanced toward her. Paling, Kagome stood.

“I think I’ll just…get some air,” she muttered, despite the rather obvious fact that she was already outside.

Shaking her head at her own stupidity, she walked off in the direction of the summit stream, Ayame springing into action behind her. “Ah—Kagome-san wishes to be  _alone!_ ” she announced over-loudly.

Pausing mid-step, Kagome cringed.

“Right,” Ayame’s mate growled, as if on cue. “You ingrates  _better_  leave Kagome-chan alone.”

She cringed again. _Don’t tell me_ Kouga’s  _in on this craziness as well…_

“ _All_  wolves should respect Kagome-sama’s privacy,” Ayame’s grandfather followed up theatrically.

_Elder-san too?!_  the miko wailed inwardly, struggling not to double-over out of sheer mortification.  _Kami, help me…_

Stiffly, she continued her upward trek, now needing the space more than ever—if for no other reason than to be as far away from Ayame and her schemes as possible. With an angry huff, she stomped right through the icy stream and up to the edge of the overlook, a little of her annoyance bleeding away as she raised her eyes to the sky. It was a clear, starry winter night—the full moon glowing ghostly pale and lovely overhead.

She couldn’t help but think of him when she looked up at it, her own sappy musings making her feel even more pathetic. It was safe to conclude, at this point, that the ‘seduction’ plan was dead in the water. She couldn’t imagine anything more off-putting than all of that bad acting and awkward tension. Dismally, Kagome sighed.

Lowering her eyes to the silvered landscape once more, her heart nearly leapt from her chest as she realized she was not alone.

“Sesshoumaru!” she gasped, reeling. “…You know, I really wish you’d stop sneaking up on me like that.”

The daiyoukai’s impassive gaze slanted to her. “My youki is not even concealed. You should be more vigilant.”

Kagome scowled. Trust Sesshoumaru to turn things back on her…

As he continued to regard her, the gravity of the situation finally sank in. “Wait,” she realized belatedly. “You followed me here…”

Turning, he moved closer to her, his gaze intent. Staring at him, Kagome swallowed, her poor frazzled heart putting itself through the paces yet again.

“You have my tail,” he stated.

“Oh,” she said, deflating. “Right.” Flushing with embarrassment, she shifted, hyper-aware of how the end of said tail was currently molded to her thigh. “I guess you can’t be that far away from it, then?”

Faintly reflective, his eyes lifted to the heavens above. “Too great a distance of separation, and it would simply return to me.”

“…I see,” Kagome managed, studying him shyly in profile.

She didn’t think she could ever get used to the sight of him. She’d compared him to the moon, and that was fair—as far as outward appearances were concerned. But viewed through the lens of her love for him, he was so much more like the sun—so blindingly brilliant in her eyes that to do more than steal the occasional glimpse of him was too much for her aching heart to bear.

Kagome understood then that to confess her love to him was out of the question. He was a proud demon lord, through and through—as hopelessly out of reach to her as the sun itself. To bask in the occasional warmth of his presence would have to be enough. To reach for anything more would just be asking to get burned.

Unwinding his tail from her, Kagome handed it to him with a fragile smile. “Thanks for that,” she said, “but it’s getting late now, and I think I’ll head back inside.”

Wordlessly, he returned the tail to its place on his shoulder. Kagome started to step around him, before it occurred to her that she  _did_  have something she wanted to tell him, after all. Turning to the side, she reached out, touching her hand lightly to his own.

“Just so you know,” she said, smiling still, “if I had been in your place, I’d have chosen to protect you, too.”

There was the faintest twitch of his fingers against hers as her hand fell away. Averting her eyes, Kagome continued on with her gaze to the ground.

Almost in a daze, she wandered back to her room, scarcely even remembering how she got there. Bracing her palms on the cool stone ledge across from her bed, she shook, a few helpless tears falling straight down to dampen the granite. As she straightened and began to loosen her dress, the tears trickled down her cheeks instead.

She had just banished them with the hem of her sleeve when the soft light of the candles abruptly dimmed. Kagome turned toward the door in surprise.

This time, it hadn’t been for lack of attention—she’d failed to sense him because his youki had been concealed. But now it was anything but, his demonic energy washing over her in dark, radiant waves as Sesshoumaru closed the distance between them.


	23. Chapter Twenty-Three

**A/n:** And now for what you've all been waiting for...

**Chapter Twenty-Three**

Fairytale romances were overrated.

Kagome gasped in pure exhilaration as Sesshoumaru pulled her back to his chest, the hard evidence of his arousal already lancing into her from behind. Her whole body sparked at the contact, a simmer of heat wending its way between her clamped, tensing thighs. As his arms tightened around her, her nipples strained through the light silk of her dress, her left breast already on the verge of total exposure after her earlier attempts to disrobe.

Smoothing now across her bare collarbone, his claws traced up along the column of her throat and gripped her firmly beneath the chin. Tilting back her head, he buried his nose in her hair and scented her deeply, his furled claws denting her cheeks.

“ _Kagome_ ,” he rumbled against her ear, his hand falling from her face and returning to her naked left shoulder. “Prepare yourself.”

She had time to feel a prickle of fear before both sets of his claws were ripping her dress open at the collar. A short cry escaped her as he wrenched the tight sheath of fabric down around her. Her breasts spilled out, the torn neck of her kimono binding her arms tightly to her sides. Sweeping back her thick, wavy tresses, Sesshoumaru crushed his burning lips to her neck, one hand easing down her chest as the other closed about her throat again.

“You will yield to me.” His thumbnail pricked her pulse as he seized her right breast, her full, fettered flesh squeezing through the gaps in his claws. “You will yield  _everything_  to me.”

“ _Ah!_ ”

Sharp nails raked across her nipple as he turned her suddenly, his hot fanged mouth descending to her chest instead. Youki welled and surged around her, crackling darkly, headily, against her skin. Ruthlessly, he bit and tasted her, her nipples chafing at the scratch and pull of his teeth, her soft creamy flesh reddening beneath the relentless grating stroke of his tongue. Bright crimson bands formed around her arms from the stricture of her dress, her taut muscles bruising as she strove in vain to reach for him, to anchor herself somehow against the devastating onslaught of his lips and fangs and tongue.

But all she could do was tremble and moan, helplessly suspended in the pleasure he was unleashing upon her. In all their previous encounters, he had been holding back. She hadn’t fully realized it at the time, but now she knew— _this_  was what it meant to be with a demon.

This was what it meant to be with  _Sesshoumaru_.

Her core wept in bliss, another cry tearing from her lips as his fangs pierced the underside of her breast. He sucked greedily at the punctures, his claws hooking into the bunched front of her dress and shearing it through as he sank. He was on his knees before her now, but  _she_  was the one at his mercy.

Hot blood dribbled down her ribs, her hands grasping desperately at his shoulders as her lungs heaved and her tattered dress fell away from her at last. His lips gleamed red—his eyes as well. Meeting hers, they narrowed, the point of his tongue chasing a bead of blood to the crease of her inner thigh. She jerked at the friction against her delicate skin, Sesshoumaru’s claws digging into her hips even more fiercely to still her.

His ragged breath fanned lower still, stirring the soft curls dusting her sex. Her twitching fingers clutched at his hair, the silky strands twisting in her hold as his tongue rasped along the seam of her shuttered thighs. Roughly, he laved at her mound, Kagome trembling as her curls dampened and slicked back, his tongue wedging further in, grazing the hood of her swollen nub just barely through her cleft.

The urge to have that roving tongue inside of her was overwhelming. Whimpering, Kagome struggled to open her legs, but his tail had her snared shut, the long furred length coiled tightly around her from ankle to knee. He had her trapped precisely how he wanted her, and when she did part for him, it was only because his stony hands slid around her and opened her from behind.

“ _Sesshoumaru!_ ” she yelped as the cool air hit her dripping sex, her body hunching against him.

As one hand held her backside elevated and split, the claws of his other tested her wetness. The pads of his fingers skated along the glazed seal of her outer lips, passing with brutal casualty over her teeming core. Agonized, Kagome tried to grind back against him, desperate to feel his touch within her, her efforts earning her a growl and a nip to the breast.

“Tonight,” he said darkly, his scintillating gaze pinning hers, “you will take  _me_  inside you first.”

_Take…him?_

Eyes going wide at the thought, Kagome submitted to Sesshoumaru’s brisk, tantalizing ministrations. His claw tips skirted and spread through her wetness, his fangs scraping over her belly and breasts. Her whole front was streaked and scratched with red, the insides of her thighs hopelessly drenched as her desire for him continued to spool out unchecked.

As his soaked claws rose up toward her shoulders, so did he. His gaze was mostly golden now as he shoved her up onto the smooth stone ledge behind her, Kagome’s legs parting reflexively before him. Yanking off his clothes, he glanced down at the shimmering cleft in her thighs before returning his eyes to hers.

“This will be painful for you,” he said as he stepped out of his hakama and into the gap between her knees. Glistening, the head of his erection nudged against her stomach, his hot, heavy length looming in the space between them, the mere sight of it filling her with trepidation. “But you must bear it.”

Fearfully, she looked up at him, her heart pounding wildly. “I don’t know…I don’t know that I can.”

She had longed for this, dreamed of this. But confronted with the sheer reality of him—the sheer  _size_ of him—Kagome was terrified. He was  _big—_ much too big. Surely, he understood this after touching her just now…there was absolutely no way on the gods’ green earth her slim opening could accommodate something like  _that_.

Taking both of her wrists in his claws, Sesshoumaru placed her palms on his shoulders before reaching down to angle her hips. “Hold on to me.”

Whimpering, she curled her fingers over the ridge of his muscles as he guided himself to her entrance. She bit her lip at the first blunt press of him against her. Kagome was now keenly grateful he’d distributed her wetness—what felt like her whole lower half was caving in around him as he breached her that first inch. She whined low in her throat, his lengthening thumbnails biting into her waist as his gaze tinged red once again.

“So  _tight_ ,” he growled, his simmering eyes closing briefly. His broad chest swelled as he re-thrust the very tip of him into her, making her gasp. “I could finish from this alone.”

Trembling, Kagome swallowed dryly, her heels hooking around the backs of his muscular thighs. “ _Don’t,_  please—keep going.”

His crimson eyes snapped to hers. She must be crazy—certifiably insane. Already she felt stretched to the limit by him, the fringes of her sex sizzling with pain—but it was nothing compared to the raw, aching inferno he’d ignited deep inside her with that single thrust.

One set of claws detached from her hip, flattening against her stomach as he leaned closer, the corner of his lips rising. “There was never any question of that.”

She cried out as he speared into her another few inches, her abdominals seizing beneath his touch. This was the furthest she had ever taken him before, and he hadn’t been nearly so unforgivingly hard and thick at the time. The pressure was staggering, her slick channel choked to bursting at the girth of him.

Her fingers curled pleadingly around his bicep, tears pricking in her eyes. “W-wait, Sesshoumaru…I—I can’t. I can’t take anymore.”

His tongue sliced along the wicked point of a fang, some of the ferocious heat bleeding from his eyes in turn. The cut seemed to sober him as he eased his bruising hold on her hip, his tail slipping behind her. Soft fur cushioned her lower back, the warmth of it soothing some of her tension. After a few moments, she could feel her taut walls relaxing around him, her breathing evening out as the pain began to subside.

All she felt now was an intense  _fullness_ , the feeling only intensifying further as he resumed his relentless course, penetrating her inch by tortuous inch. Her hands returned to his shoulders, urging him in, her hazy eyes falling to the junction of their bodies. It was surreal, seeing her flushed folds parted like rose petals around him, the blood-darkened length of his erection now mostly buried within her. Her walls clenched again—not merely from the force of his intrusion, but from the pressure of her own consuming lust.

There was maybe an inch or so left of him that remained outside of her. She was lying nearly on her back now in order to receive him, but even still, she seemed to have reached the physical limit of what she could take. Her palms fell to his marble chest, trying to still him, but he continued to push into her all the same, his gaze lightening once more as he hovered above her. A small, desperate sound escaped her—if he kept going like this, she was certain he’d split her in two.

Dark gold eyes fixed raptly on her face as he brought the pad of his thumb to the very top of her sex. “Open for me, Kagome,” he commanded lowly, caressing her there.

Waves of pleasure washed through her, numbing her to the pain. Impossibly deep within her, he settled at last. His slippery thumb glided away, her swollen lower lips kissing the base of his shaft.

She shivered at the ecstasy of having him sheathed entirely within her, his claws tracing a meandering path from her stomach to her breasts. He seemed as lost in the moment as she was herself—his hooded, amber gaze holding her captive completely.

So rapturously, perfectly full of him, Kagome couldn’t imagine any sensation better than this.

Then, he moved against her.

The first few thrusts were excruciating. Kagome’s hands flew to Sesshoumaru’s in a panic, her fingers hooking desperately through his own. It felt like he was carving her out from the inside. Her spine went rigid. She tried to scoot away, to retreat from him, but the claws curved at her breasts prevented it.

Mewling pitifully, she gazed up at him in watery hurt, his heated golden eyes staring back down at her, unmoved. She really had no choice but to lie there and take it—and strangely enough, as she resigned herself to this knowledge and did just that, the acute, grating agony began to soften and smooth.

Her stiff spine relaxed, her pangs of discomfort mellowing into something else entirely. Seeming to sense this change, Sesshoumaru increased the span and pace of his thrusts. Her core rippled at the plunging sensation, dull waves of pleasure coursing through her along the path of his striving sex.

She moaned, her fingers only limply threaded through his now. Her hands slipped listlessly to her chest as his claws withdrew, scratching down her body on their way to her hips. With a guttural growl, he hauled her lower half over the end of the ledge, Kagome gasping sharply as the full front of his pelvis crushed against her.

Her eyes fluttered shut, one furled hand rising to her mouth as she reveled in the crash of his hips. Each jarring stroke sent shockwaves through her backside and groin, her peaked breasts rocking with the motion as she bit down on a knuckle and opened her eyes again.

His own golden gaze was riveted on her, devouring her reactions as he shifted his hips and arced into her, striking a point within her that she didn’t even know existed. Her back bowed with a cry, pleasure spiking through her. Her heels dug into the edge of the stone platform, trying to gain some additional leverage, trying to open herself to him even more.

Mesmerized, she watched the clench of his ripped abs as he drove into her, veins standing out on his powerful arms as he clutched her at the waist and thigh. His skewed bangs dipped jaggedly into his roiling eyes, his jaw locked tight with what she could only assume was iron-clad restraint. The slight, frayed broadening of his markings was the only indication that he was on the cusp of surrendering to his baser instincts once again.

The thought filled Kagome with sudden, primal need. Cupping a heaving breast in her palm, she bent her nails into the tender swell for purchase and rasped out his name on a plea.

“Sesshoumaru…”

His eyes narrowed at her plaintive tone, the claws at her waist curling forbiddingly against her. He probably thought she was going to beg him to ease up, but nothing could be further from the truth.

“…Harder,” she panted out instead.

He stilled, his gaze darkening. She had time to glimpse a flash of red before he ripped her from the ledge and threw her face down onto the bed of furs. She made a sound of protest at her sudden emptiness—the sound abruptly dying in her throat as his flaring youki hit her like a whip-crack.

“On your knees,” he snarled, already dragging her up by the hips.

Kagome’s heart skittered as her palms flew out to brace her. His dark desire wreathed around her, stoking her own, even as she felt a distinct thrill of fear at being in such a vulnerable position. It was nerve-wracking, not being able to gauge his expression as he drew flush against her, his torrid hardness laid like a brand across the length of her prone, needy sex.

A clawed hand to the middle of her back forced her down into an arch. “So,” he seethed, his claws sliding forward and fisting in her hair, “you wish for this Sesshoumaru to rut you like a bitch in heat.”

He sounded coldly furious—and maybe on some level he  _was_ —but Kagome could feel his anticipation rising along with his body as he plunged into her to the hilt, making her flinch and whine. His grip tightened in her hair, his whole intimidating weight leaning into her as his tail wedged beneath, lifting her up so high against him that her knees almost left the pelts.

…If someone had told Kagome when she’d first crossed paths with Inuyasha’s stone cold killer of an older brother, that a mere two years from then she’d be having wild, animalistic intercourse with him, she would have laughed out loud because  _clearly_  that person was off their rocker.

But it was clear now that the only person out of their mind was Kagome herself—all of Sesshoumaru’s dirty talk and rough handling driving her right out of her senses. He hadn’t phrased ‘rutting her’ as a question, but Kagome nodded eagerly beneath his grip all the same as she reared boldly back against him.

The daiyoukai hissed in a breath as he wrenched her up by the nape, his ruby red eyes boring into hers. “Careful, girl, or I  _will_  break you.”

Flushed and drunk with longing, she lowered her lashes at him in invitation. “That’s fine.”

His lip curled, a low chuckle escaping him as he forced her back down and began to pound into her in earnest. Kagome’s breath was knocked from her lungs, little choked sounds of pained pleasure escaping her. She buried her white-knuckled fingers into his tail, trying not to bite her tongue as he slammed into her harder and harder, making her buck and shout and wonder if he might really break her after all.

“ _Ah! Sesshoumaru! Sesshoumaru_ —”

Each time she yelled out his name, he seemed to become a little more unhinged. His feral claws cut into her as he growled, his tight heavy balls smashing punishingly— _exquisitely_ —against her teeming bundle of nerves. Her backside and thighs were red-hot and stinging, but she registered this only distantly as an almost unbearable pleasure built within her. Her whole body quaked with it, her weak forearms going out from underneath her, his name leaving her as less of a cry now and more of a whimpered prayer.

But dealing with a demon, she should have known better, because it was at that moment when she felt her whole sane universe on the verge of collapsing into a chaos of senseless bliss, that Sesshoumaru pulled out of her completely.

He was the devil. Pure and simple.

Sinking her hips, Kagome growled in frustration. A sharp nick to her stinging lower cheek had her snapping upright once again.

“ _Quiet_ ,” Sesshoumaru ordered, his steely claws sliding back to cup her.

His touch was blessedly cool against her tender, flaming skin. She pushed back needfully into his palms, whimpering when his thumbs circled inward and began to spread her. Her outer folds peeled open gently, her sealed inner folds perking wetly in the narrow space between.

His sultry breath bathed over her. “Present yourself to me.”

Whimpering, Kagome cracked open her legs and angled up her hips, exposing herself to him completely. Her drenched, velvety lips sighed apart around her entrance, the heat from his mouth flowing into her like a current. Paradoxically, she shivered.

“Do you want me to taste you, Kagome?” he demanded, his burning lips already brushing her own.

He  _really_  had a thing for rhetorical questions…

Before she could even reply, he was pressing into her, rumbling into her, “I  _need_  to taste you.”

The first heavy swipe of his tongue nearly undid her.

Her wrists buckled—her hips would have too, if not for his iron hold on her rear. Bringing her flush against his face, he tasted her deeply, impaling her in a series of rough, measured strokes. Kagome groaned low in her throat, her core trembling as she ground instinctively back against him.

He played her like a drum, as much of an expert at orally plundering her as he was at seemingly everything else. It really was unfair.

“Why…” she breathed out faintly. “Why are you so  _good_  at this…”

His lips curved against her before he drew back, plunging into her so broadly and forcefully that her walls seized around him with a start. She yelped when his buried muscle twisted within her, the end of his tail wrapping firmly around her mouth. Eyes wide, she glanced back as he withdrew from her quivering womanhood, his sinful tongue dashing the sheen of her wetness from his lips.

Trained upon her lower half still, his shadowed gaze cut to her briefly. “I told you to be silent.”

Effectively gagged, her shout muffled as the claws molded over her abruptly shifted, splitting her wide at the seam. Her stretched sex gaped and throbbed, a visceral tremor wracking through her as her bared rear entrance strained beneath his hold as well. Liquid desire trickled down to her pulsating nub, the glazed tip of his erection intercepting it on the way to her spread, aching slit.

“Your body is more perfect than I had imagined,” he said to her lowly.

He dipped into her, easing open her tight channel once more. A dry, smothered sob of relief escaped her, the fur of his tail whispering over the painfully stiff peaks of her breasts. Rotating slightly, he plumbed her with a few shallow thrusts before continuing upward in a slick, steady trail.

“I will have you in full.”

Her nails ripped futilely at the tail banded across her mouth, her whole body jerking as his hardness met the tiny ring nestled between her cheeks. She hadn’t—she couldn’t  _believe_ —

_“No, no, NO!”_ she cried, but the sound was lost in the dense fur that muzzled her.

Hysterical, frightened tears squeezed from her eyes. She was most certainly  _not_  prepared for this. She didn’t think that she would  _ever_  be prepared for this. Sure, she was familiar with the concept of anal sex—admittedly, even intrigued by it—but with  _Sesshoumaru_? He really would split her like a log.

His tail locked around her in a straitjacket of fluff, restraining her snugly to the bed. “Submit to me, Kagome.”

Softly, helplessly, she continued to cry into the warm cocoon of his fur, his huge, terrifying erection still poised at her poor little hole. Sesshoumaru and his tail both were nothing more that soulless sex fiends, and as soon as she could speak again, Kagome was going to scream out this fact at the top of her lungs.

As she braced herself for the unspeakable pain he was about to inflict upon her, Sesshoumaru’s claws bent and flexed, kneading her captive cheeks instead. Despite herself, Kagome moaned at this unexpected massage, the wet head of his shaft nudging her in time with the motion of his hands. Little shivers ran down her spine at each teasing stroke to such a sensitive, rarely-touched spot. Her tears dried, her hips twitching restlessly against him as she started to simmer with agitation, wondering when he was going to get on with it already.

His hands slowed as his focus shifted entirely to her puckered flesh, each rub there stirring her that much more into a fervor. So damp with her lubricant and his own, when the very tip of him pressed into her, Kagome pressed urgently back. He hadn’t penetrated her so much as dented her, but just that slight breach alone flooded her with overwhelming sensation.

“There is no rush,” he stated cruelly as he withdrew, gliding down to claim her sex again in a single, fluid thrust.

His tail fell away, Kagome’s whimper sounding ridiculously loud in her ears as he hauled her back against his unyielding chest. Gripping her by the jaw, he guided her face back toward his, his powerful hips surging into her from below.

“What I need most,” Sesshoumaru growled, his red-gold gaze piercing hers, “is  _this_.”

His mouth met hers in a harsh, hungry kiss, the clash of his fangs making her lips chafe and bleed. Breaking from her with another growl, his hand fell to the union of their flesh, a frayed groan escaping her as his fingertips glided along her opened sex.

“ _Kagome_ ,” he spoke into the side of her throat, easing his inward pace as he rolled her ripened nub beneath the pad of his thumb.

Her head lolled back against his chest, her arms wrapping around his as pleasure bloomed within her. She closed her eyes, savoring the sensation. When he touched her like that, when he said her name like that, she could almost imagine, she could almost  _believe_ —

“Look at me.”

Her eyes fluttered open, dreamy and soft. But his own gaze was sharp and intent.

_Red_.

She tried to reel herself back from the edge, but it was too late. With a wordless gasp, her climax jolted through her, her walls contracting like the heart in her chest.

He snarled with lust as she spasmed around him. Without even seeming to break pace, he twisted her completely in his arms. Her scratched, bitten breasts flattened against his chiseled chest, her tired fingers scrabbling for purchase against the smooth planes of his back.

His hips stilled as he buried his claws in her hair, bringing her face close to his own. Youki seethed about them, Kagome swallowing as it pressed against her, dark and insistent.

“Lower your defenses, Kagome,” he murmured, his crimson gaze hooded. “Lower your defenses, and let me in.”

Her breath caught. What he was asking of her was beyond dangerous. If she had any real sense of self-preservation left, she would never even think twice about giving in to such a demand.

But somewhere along the way, she had come to trust this bloodthirsty demon. Even in his wild, sex-crazed state, Kagome trusted him still.

And so after a moment of hesitation, she reined in her spiritual defenses, her veins chilling as her power retreated into the depths of her soul. Sesshoumaru’s lips seared against her pulse, his youki seeping like cold fire through her pores, scalding and freezing her all at once. Kagome shivered at this unbridled invasion in a mixture of terror and agony and stark, biting arousal.

“This is what you did to me, when my arm was severed.” Coarse and burning, his tongue grated along the line of her jaw. “This is what you do to me,  _still_.”

His demonic aura penetrated her deeper, her nerves igniting like tinder at the assault. Sweat and gooseflesh broke out across her skin in equal measure, every instinct screaming at her to purify him—to unleash her sealed reiki and drive him out of her in a furious blaze. The tension of being tainted by him was immense…and  _exhilarating_.

Kagome drew in a tremulous breath, the Jewel fragment at her breast dimming to mauve. “Sesshoumaru…”

His dark energy buffeted her from within, stoking her lust from the inside out. Her nipples hardened, her filled core wetting around him to the base. Moaning shamelessly, she clung to him. Even before he began to move again, she could feel herself already teetering on the brink.

Feeling this too, Sesshoumaru heightened his pace, his thrusts growing increasingly erratic as he set his brow against hers. Their panting breaths mingled, his eyes scorching into hers as his youki roiled through them both. Wincing, Kagome nicked her bottom lip at a particularly sharp jab, the dot of blood whisked away by the scrape of his tongue.

“You are going to take my seed, Kagome,” he ground out, his left arm crushing her hips even more firmly to his. “Do you know what that means?”

Her heart pounded, euphoria rising within her. As his eyes began to clear, she held her breath in captivation.

In desperate hope.

“It means you are  _mine_.”

Savagely, he crashed against her, shattering her along with him.

“ _You are mine._ ”

She cried out as he flooded her in a torrent, her body seizing around him.

“ _You. Are. Mine._ ”

His claws fastened in her flesh, his pulsating length driving into her still, punctuating each syllable of his declaration with another gouging thrust. Each word, each stroke stamped into her like a fiery brand. She whimpered beneath the force of his claim, her channel convulsing around him in the broken afterechoes of her release.

Her numb fingers trailed down his chest, curling as they came to rest. There was no question how greatly and deeply he desired her—the evidence of that was planted in the very center of her, pooled there like the youki in her veins. She looked into his eyes and saw the sheen of that unvarnished lust gilding them still.

She was the object of his sexual obsession. An obsession which he’d fought tooth and nail to contain. An obsession which she’d fought just as hard to draw out.

This was what she’d wanted, wasn’t it—for him to surrender to his passion for her? And now, at last, he had. He’d taken her, just like she’d dreamed he would.

She should be ecstatic. She should be thrilled.

She…

Her lashes trembled as he slowed within her, a few tears spilling down her cheeks. As soon as they fell, another few slipped down to replace them. Before Kagome knew it, her eyes were helplessly streaming.

Sesshoumaru’s flesh was inside her. His essence was inside her. She was as full of him as she could possibly be—as close to him as she could possibly be. And yet, somehow, she felt as far away from him as she had ever been.

Claw tips touched to her cheek, breaking the path of her tears. “Are you in pain?”

Within her, he was sated and still. Empty, but not like her. At last, he had given her everything he’d wanted to give.

And Kagome knew now, in her heart, that it would never be enough.

The corner of her mouth lifted in a hopeless half-smile. “Only a little.”


	24. Chapter Twenty-Four

**Chapter Twenty-Four**

Sesshoumaru skimmed his claws over the naked swell of her hip. Faintly she stirred at the caress, but remained sleeping still.

Every inch of her skin bore his mark. Every place within her he had claimed with his flesh and his presence. She was  _his_ , and he felt the surety of his ownership of her in every breath that passed from her lips.

As he watched her sleep, he reveled in his supremacy.

None could stand against him. He had succeeded his great father in title and in strength. He had mastered a sword of unrivaled power. He had brought the most powerful priestess since Midoriko herself under his absolute control.

Kagome was beautiful and strong, and she pleased him far more than any other had before. Why, then, should he not have her as his consort? Sesshoumaru smirked. Who would even dare to question him?

When this matter with Naraku was settled, he would take her back with him to his western territories, and she would serve him without distraction. Just the thought of this made his blood burn in anticipation.

He had proven to her that her place was beneath him, and she had accepted this fact. Perhaps if his father had been able to keep himself and his woman similarly in check, he would still be alive to this day.

But the former Inu no Taishou had been too soft. He had given himself over to human sentiments and had lost everything in the end. The new Inu no Taishou would not make the same mistake.

His power and dominion would only increase. He would have his lands and his subjects. He would have his swords and his woman, and he would rule over them all with the same iron will he had always possessed. This level restraint, this cool detachment— _this_  was what set him above his father Touga.

What set him above  _all_.

She shivered at the flare of his indomitable youki, her long dark lashes trembling over the delicate skin of her cheeks. He remembered how those large expressive eyes of hers had gazed up at him in pure worship as he took her. It was a sight he would remember for all of time.

Submission did not come naturally to her, but she had done so very well under his direction. He had broken her in thoroughly, and her body would remember him. Next time would be easier for her to bear.

Though judging by her tightness even now around his testing fingers, perhaps not  _that_  much easier.

A slight furrow creased her brow, a small sound of discomfort escaping her as she shied away from his touch. Reluctantly, Sesshoumaru withdrew his hand, considering her as he cleaned his claws.

_She is sore_ , he supposed, recalling how she had tearfully admitted as much to him afterward.

It was to be expected. She was unaccustomed to such acts, and even for a demoness, he was difficult to withstand. She was so diminutive and fragile…no amount of preparation on his part would have prevented this, though he had endeavored to.

His tail curved around her as he tucked her against his chest. She sighed, relaxing into his warmth. A bit of his own tension eased at the gesture, his claws resting against the satiny plane of her stomach.

He would wait for her to heal. With her constitution, it would not be long.

Soon, he knew, she would be eager for him again. In the past, he had distanced himself from the females he had bedded for this very reason. But as he had bequeathed his seed to her, in this, too, he treated her as the exception.

His lips quirked as he imagined what other clumsy attempts she would make to seduce him. He would humor her efforts—oblige them, even. He could be magnanimous where she was concerned.

He could be patient.

**xXxXxXx**

Warm. Rough.  _Wet_.

Kagome twitched awake at the slick, scraping sensation—her sleep-fogged eyes blinking slowly to clear. She lay on her side on the soft bed of stacked pelts, Sesshoumaru’s fluffy tail coiled about her like a boa. It was a moment before she realized she was totally nude beneath it—a few moments more before the events of the previous night returned to her in a riot of emotions and words and images. Awkwardly, she shifted against the hard body at her back, her cheeks tingeing pink at the memory.

She couldn’t believe she’d broken down on him like that at the end. Of course, she’d been utterly exhausted by all the sexual acrobatics, but still…

Kagome sighed, her hands curling beneath her chin. She was a little surprised he was still here—and a little put out. As nice as it felt to be wrapped up against him in his luxurious fur, right now she could really use some space.  _Especially_  when she could feel how aroused he was even through all those dense coils of fluff.

“ _Ah!_ ” she gasped sharply as she felt another warm wet rasp below her shoulder.

Stiffly, she craned back her neck, watching Sesshoumaru’s tongue slide across her broken skin. His crimson lids were lowered, the ends of his silky bangs dusting over her as he licked along the path of a long shallow scratch. Her stomach dropped, a frown tugging at her lips.

“Sesshoumaru…what are you doing?”

Reaching the end of the line, he glanced up at her, his golden eyes deep and smoldering. “Cleaning your wounds.”

“That…that’s really not necessary,” she said faintly, wincing as he moved on to a neighboring cut near her collar. “Also, it hurts…”

“Only for a moment,” he spoke against her skin, his tail slipping away from her as the claws around her arm bore her back to the pelts.

And it was true. Although the first stroke smarted something fierce, after a moment, the pain numbed altogether. Even the angry redness of her scratches dimmed beneath the damp, soothing trail of his tongue.

“Mm,” Kagome groaned softly, her eyes squeezing shut as she twisted her fingers into the pelt at her sides.

Long, cool hair whispered over her front. Hovering just above her, he skirted his lips past the hollow of her throat before continuing down her chest. Her grip on the pelt became a shaky clutch. She had a feeling she knew where he was going with all this, and when he drew apart her legs and settled between them, that feeling sharpened with piercing certainty.

Her stomach dropped again, straight through the floor.

“…Sesshoumaru,” she said, placing a hand haltingly on his shoulder as he bent his mouth to her breast.

But just like last night, he seemed too caught up in his lust to even hear her. Or maybe— _more likely_ , she was beginning  to think—he just didn’t care.

“Sesshoumaru,” she tried again, more forcefully, her other hand going to his shoulder as well. “ _Sesshoumaru.”_

His claws closed around her hips as he rumbled against her, her entreaties seeming to have entirely the opposite effect from what she’d intended. Resigned, she lay there like the object she was, stiff as a board, as he slowly laved her wounded upper half clean.

_This is wrong_ , she thought, tears gathering in her eyes as her wooden hands plunked down to her sides again.  _This is all wrong…_

There was a time not so long ago when she would have given her right arm to have him lavish his attentions on her like this. But last night had changed all that. What had once made her feel so indescribably good now made her feel dirty and cheap.

_Used_.

“You are so tense, Kagome,” he murmured huskily as he descended further, his palms pressing open her inner thighs. “Where is it that you ache the most?”

There wasn’t a part of her body that wasn’t bruised, stinging, or sore. But the place where she ached the most wasn’t anywhere close to the direction his mouth was traveling.

A trembling hand rose to her chest, her nose burning as two twin tears glittered down her temples. “Please, Sesshoumaru,” she whispered brokenly, “please, no more…”

Sesshoumaru stilled, looking up at her with a frown as the hide curtain swung open behind him.

“Milord! It is past dawn—are we to depart soooOOOOON?! UWAAAHHHH!”

For an instant, all three of them froze—Jakken with his buggy yellow stare and gaping beak unhinged in horror, Kagome with her wide eyes and sex-marked chest on full display, and Sesshoumaru with his hard gaze and even harder naked body bowed between the spread of her legs.

Then, the instant passed.

“KYAAAAHH!” Kagome screamed, snatching up Sesshoumaru’s tail to cover her as she seized the sandals next to the bed and chucked them at the paralyzed imp. “Get out!  _GET OUT!_ ”

As the second sandal pinged off his head, Jakken fled the room with an agonized wail, the sound of it carrying loudly in the hallway beyond. Red-faced and heaving, Kagome sagged to the bed with a moan of despair.

“He saw everything— _everything_ …”

Sitting next to her, Sesshoumaru sighed in preemptive annoyance, his claws pressing bracingly between his eyes. “…Yes.”

**xXxXxXx**

Clothed once more, Kagome and Sesshoumaru left the relative privacy of her room and entered the main chamber of the den. All across the vast space, drunken wolves lay scattered—some snoozing from stone ledges, others sprawled on top of pelts or one another. Even shy young Akito had passed out spectacularly. Half his dangling leg submerged, he snored face down at the edge of the central reflecting pool, an empty sake bottle cradled in the crook of his arm.

Kagome let out a sigh of relief. This made her wild night with Sesshoumaru seem a little less debauched. Stepping carefully around the comatose wolves, she made her way over to the large hide bed at the back of the room, where Kouga and Ayame were covered and sleeping.

“Kouga-kun? Ayame-san?”

Crouching down, Kagome gave Kouga’s shoulder a light shake through the supple pelt above him. Growling faintly, the wolf prince rolled over with a drowsy scowl, his high cheekbones still flushed from drinking.

Kagome shook him again. “Kouga-kun, we’re about to head out…”

Blue eyes slid open blearily, straining to focus on her face. “…Eh? Kagome-chan?” Clapping a clawed hand to his forehead, Kouga sat up, the pelt blanket falling down his bare chest. “You’re leaving already…?”

“Ye— _kyah_!” Kagome’s cheeks flared as the blanket fell woefully short of concealing Kouga’s lower half. Shielding her eyes with her fingers, she twisted away. “Kouga-kun! You—your— _cover that thing up already_!”

_This must be how Jakken felt…_ Kagome despaired inwardly.

As the wolf prince glanced down in dull confusion, Ayame shifted at his side. Rising with difficulty onto an elbow, she blinked sluggishly up at Kagome and Sesshoumaru beneath her half of the fallen blanket, her naked breasts hidden just barely behind her arm. The daiyoukai made a short sound of irritation as he turned.

“We are leaving,” he said in a clipped tone, steering Kagome around by the elbow as he slanted a cool look down at the inebriated couple. “Make yourselves presentable if you wish to see us off.”

Outside the fortress gates, Entei stood waiting for her next to Ah-Un and Jakken, who was still looking vaguely traumatized as he feebly adjusted the dragon’s saddle. At their approach, the poor imp peered piteously up at Sesshoumaru as though all hope and joy had been sucked out of the universe forever. Ignoring his distraught vassal entirely, the daiyoukai ascended his reptilian mount.

A few minutes later, the now-decent wolves staggered out to bid them farewell. Even the Elder’s four legs were decidedly wobbly as he settled back onto his haunches. Clinging to her husband’s arm for support, Ayame caught Kagome’s eye meaningfully as she directed a not-so-subtle glance toward Sesshoumaru. Stomach sinking, the young miko sported what she hoped was a halfway convincing smile in return.

“Goodbye, Kagome-san,” the wolf girl said with a grin as she stumbled forward a bit to embrace her. “And  _good luck_.”

Kagome blushed as Kouga swept her up in a bone-crushing hug, much to Sesshoumaru’s simmering displeasure. “Give ‘em hell for me, Kagome-chan. And don’t let that dog push you around. You’re a one-of-a-kind woman.”

Her blush deepened as Ayame huffed, hooking a claw into the front of Kouga’s hide vest and dragging him off with a smirk. “I’ll show you ‘one-of-a-kind’…”

With a grave sigh for the current generation, the Elder bowed his shaggy head. “You will always be welcome among us, Kagome-sama.”

“Thanks, Elder-san,” Kagome beamed, bowing as well. “Er, I don’t suppose…”

Ice blue eyes regarded her twitching fingers for a moment before he padded forward, allowing her one last parting ear-scratch. After bidding goodbye to a tearful Ginta and Hakkaku, who’d loaded up Ah-Un’s saddlebags with a plethora of farewell gifts, Kagome climbed aboard Entei and looked to Sesshoumaru.

His golden eyes met hers—lit to blinding by the rays of the morning sun, his hair a glimmering stream of burnished silver. A lump formed in Kagome’s throat as she glanced away, feeling scorched just by the sight of him.

“…Let’s go.”

It was a long, quiet flight back to Edo village. Sesshoumaru was reflective, Kagome was melancholy, and Jakken was utterly morose. As the sun began to set, the familiar village rose before the miko’s eyes like a desert oasis.

“Kagome-chan!” she heard Sango cry from a distance.

Hitching up the skirt of her yukata, the taijiya hurried to meet them as they landed on the crest of a nearby hill, Miroku, Shippou, Rin and Kaede not far behind. Kagome tumbled clumsily from her saddle in her haste get to her beloved friends, her parched, weary heart soothing as she hugged them each in turn.

“Kagome-chan, we were so worried,” Sango said tearfully, pulling her into another tight embrace. “You were gone for so long.”

“Another day, and we would have set out to find you,” Miroku joined gently, the palm of his right hand well-behaved for a change as he rested it on Kagome’s shoulder.

“Aye, child,” Kaede nodded, patting Kagome reassuringly on the back, “ye gave us quite a fright.”

“Kagome-chan, I missed you so much!” Shippou gushed as he clasped his arms around her neck, Kirara leaning over from Sango’s shoulder and nuzzling Kagome’s cheek.

“I’m sorry,” Kagome said, blinking back her tears. “Things turned out to be more a bit more complicated than I’d thought…”

“Were ye able to speak with Kouga-sama?” Kaede inquired.

Kagome smiled softly. “Yep. He decided not to join up with us, in the end. But…” Slipping a hand beneath the neck of her haori, she withdrew her necklace, its sliver of a pendant glowing faintly pink. “He gave us this, instead.”

“A shard of the Shikon no Tama,” Sango murmured, sharing in Kagome’s glittering smile. “Kagome-chan…you’ve given us hope once again.”

“It wasn’t just me…” Kagome hesitated, glancing over to where the daiyoukai stood, gazing down at his adoring ward. “…I couldn’t have done it without Sesshoumaru.”

His gaze slid to her at the mention of his name, and for a moment before the tenderness in his expression faded, Kagome’s foolish heart warmed hopefully in vain.

“Ye two have done much together, indeed,” Kaede affirmed with a sly look, the younger miko stiffening as Rin gasped in concern.

“Oh no, Jakken-sama…why are you crying?” the little girl asked as she knelt, the vacant eyes of the imp beside her continuing to stream.

“Such a strange and sudden reaction,” Miroku remarked. “Is he ill, I wonder?”

Blushing guiltily, Kagome looked away with a grimace. “…Beats me.”

**xXxXxXx**

Later, gathered together with all her friends and allies in Kaede’s hut, Kagome filled everyone in on the events of her journey over dinner. Even Sesshoumaru was in attendance, technically. Leaning against the open doorway, he was about as far from the rest of the group as he could possibly be, his face turned away from them as he gazed out into the night.

“…So, the creature Mouryoumaru was nothing more than another puppet of Naraku’s,” Kaede observed as she refilled Kagome’s cup of tea.

Taking a sip, the younger miko nodded. “Seems that way. It was the infant inside who was really pulling the strings.”

“The infant, who in actuality, is the expelled heart of Naraku,” Miroku summarized, bracing his rosary-clad fist beneath his chin. “A calculated risk, indeed—so long as his heart remained outside of his body, Naraku himself was essentially invincible…”

“But the heart had a will of its own,” Sango said, frowning down at her bowl as she chased around the last few grains of rice with her chopsticks. “And when that heart grew too rebellious in its aims, Naraku reclaimed it.”

“Yeah,” Kagome said with a shake of her head, “keeping his heart hidden and separate just wasn’t worth the risk anymore—now that he knows Sesshoumaru can bust through his barriers.”

After a moment of consideration, Miroku spoke again.

“We should press our advantage and take the offensive as soon as possible,” he said. “While Naraku is busy gathering the remaining Jewel shards and bolstering his defenses, we should aim to strike.”

“I agree,” Kagome said. “He’s going to be coming after our shard anyway, so it’s better to meet him head-on. We don’t want to give him the luxury of plotting against us. Myouga-jii,” she said, turning to the flea perched on Kirara’s brow, “have you been keeping an eye on Naraku’s movements?”

“Trying to, yes,” Myouga answered with a sigh. “Naraku’s path of destruction has been widespread as he combs the land for the remaining shards, but he himself remains ever in the wings.” The flea bowed his head. “Now that he has the infant’s Fuyouheki stone in his possession once more, he will only be that much more difficult to trace.”

“Right,” Kagome said, her shoulders slumping. “I’d forgotten about that part…”

“Whether Naraku’s shouki is concealed or not is of no consequence.” All eyes turned to Sesshoumaru as he continued, his glinting gaze slanting back toward the world outside, “The wind sorceress Kagura flew south when she fled. I’ve been tracking her scent since we left the wolves’ mountain.”

“Then south we’ll continue to go,” Kagome decided.

Miroku nodded. “Sango and I are well enough to join you, but it will probably be some time before we are all able to return to the village. We should prepare accordingly.”

“Three days should give us enough time,” Sango agreed.

“What do you think, Sesshoumaru?” Kagome asked. “Does three days sound reasonable to you?”

Her skin prickled as his golden eyes dragged across her face. “Yes.”

“Okay, then,” she said a little jumpily. “It’s settled.”

With a plan in place, the talk soon turned to lighter subjects as Sango and the others filled Kagome in on all the activity—and in Shippou and Rin’s case, all the shenanigans—that had transpired during her absence. Seemingly bored with this chitchat, Sesshoumaru wandered away, Jakken trailing after him with a distinct air of dejection.

Kagome’s tension eased at the daiyoukai’s departure. She found herself laughing more freely and smiling more easily in the company of her friends. It felt nice and right and  _normal_  to be back with them again—to be back with people who actually cared about her as a person, for a change.

As the night grew late, and everyone began yawning every five minutes or so, bedtime became an inevitability. After bidding goodnight to Kaede and gathering up a drowsy Shippou and Rin, Kagome and Sango walked back to the taijiya’s hut with Miroku accompanying. At the door, the monk paused, giving Kagome a light bow.

“Sleep well, Kagome-san.” Straightening, he leaned forward, pressing a chaste kiss to the taijiya’s lips. “Goodnight, Sango.”

“Goodnight, Miroku,” Kagome’s friend echoed softly as she turned, a pretty blush highlighting her cheeks as she stepped into the lantern light.

_Awww, so sweet_ , Kagome gushed inwardly as she followed Sango inside. Who would have guessed Miroku could be such a gentleman? Happy as she was for her friend, her heart couldn’t help but pang a little as she compared Sango’s romantic situation to her own.

After tucking in the kids and Kirara, Sango turned warmly to Kagome. “Would you like to spend the night, Kagome-chan? There’s plenty of space here.” Her blush returned. “And I still feel like we have some catching up to do.”

Kagome grinned, her heart lifting at the thought of not having to sleep alone in her own hut tonight. “Yeah, I’d say so…Let me just grab a few things, okay?”

Hitching a ride from Entei, Kagome made it to her home at the edge of the village in a minute flat. Things had gotten a little dusty in the week or so since she’d been gone. Airing out a pillow and blanket, she was just turning to leave again when strong arms wrapped around her from behind.

Kagome tensed, her hands throttling the bedding she held. Just like the night before, clawed fingers brushed her hair back from her neck, warm breath flowing over her exposed, delicate skin.

“Did I frighten you?” Sesshoumaru asked as he drew her back against his chest.

“A bit, yeah,” Kagome answered faintly, her heart pounding as she stared down at her twisted pillow.

If she’d had any doubt before that he enjoyed putting her on edge, she was certain of it now. Smirking, Sesshoumaru grazed his lips along the side of her throat, the points of his fangs denting her skin.

“My Kagome,” he rumbled in unmistakable lust, her clutch on the plushy fabric becoming a death grip.

One hand slipped beneath the neck of her haori to grasp her bare shoulder. When the other slid down from her waist and cupped her possessively between the thighs, she went rigid.

His lips thinned against her throat. Prising the mangled bedding from her hold, Sesshoumaru turned her stiff body around completely. In the near dark, the glow of his preternatural eyes made her shiver as he appraised her intently.

“You are still hurt from last night,” he stated after a while.

Kagome glanced away, clasping her trembling hands to her chest to still them. It was true, in a sense, but how to say it…

Taking her wavering silence as confirmation, Sesshoumaru released her and stepped back. “Rest,” he said as he turned, walking soundlessly to the door. “I will return in a few days’ time.”

Torn, Kagome stared after him. Before she could muster the wherewithal to ask him where he was going, Sesshoumaru was gone.

**xXxXxXx**

“…And one cannot speak highly enough of Kimi-sama’s shrewd wit and keen mind for strategy!”

Sesshoumaru’s claws bit into Ah-Un’s reins. Perhaps bringing Jakken along with him had been a mistake.

Leaving the company of humans for a few days seemed to have invigorated the despondent imp. As tedious as his prolonged suffering silence had been to endure, this unending diatribe of his was fast becoming just as wearisome. For the better part of an hour, Jakken had been extolling the virtues of Touga’s first wife at ponderous length. As proud as he was of his lineage and as much as he respected his mother, even for Sesshoumaru this excessive praise was beginning to grate.

“It is said that none could best the clever demon Satomaru at shougi, yet your noble mother challenged him and defeated him two games out of three—and this was long before the drop rule was in play, when the game was still in its purest form. Although, the addition of the rule does lend some much-needed complexity…” At the irritated flare of Sesshoumaru’s youki, Jakken hurried on, “A-at any rate, so impressed was Satomaru by Kimi-sama’s display of skill that he gave her his coveted spyglass in tribute.”

Sesshoumaru grit his fangs. “Satomaru was a notorious trickster. After Haha-ue defeated him in the first game, he resorted to cheating in the second, so she broke his jaw and took his spyglass for the insult.”

“Ah…” the imp flustered. “Yet still, milord—only a demoness of great power and poise could have done as such! It is also said—”

“Cease your rambling, inaccurate stories, Jakken,” Sesshoumaru said shortly, skewering the imp with a backward glance. “What is it that you truly wish to say?”

Jakken cowered. “N-nothing, milord.” As the seconds ticked by, his abashed expression became cagey once more. “Kimi-sama is a daiyoukai of much renown. I merely wished to highlight her exceptional qualities as the true and  _rightful_  companion of your late lord father…”

Sesshoumaru’s eyes narrowed, his voice darkening. “Speak plainly, Jakken, or not at all—though you should choose your next words carefully if you do.”

At the threat in his master’s tone, the imp opted wisely for silence. As the midday sun loomed high overhead, the fiery mountain home of Toutousai rose before them at last. Touching down before the giant skull dwelling, Sesshoumaru dismounted onto the volcanic ground and crossed through the fanged threshold.

“Oh ho, if it isn’t the newly minted Inu no Taishou,” the old smith greeted with his usual impudence, not even bothering to look up from his anvil as he continued to hammer away at what appeared to be a helmet for his ox. “To what do I owe the pleasure of this unexpected visit?”

“Jakken,” Sesshoumaru ordered stonily, ignoring the gibe.

Untying a satchel strung through Ah-Un’s saddle, the imp scurried forward, upending the contents at Toutousai’s feet. Broken plates of armor clattered to the bone floor, the old smith’s bulbous eyes welling in despair at the sight.

“Augh!” he groaned, his gaze swiveling accusingly to Sesshoumaru. “You’ve managed to destroy my hard work  _already_?”

“Clearly, you should work harder still.” Flicking a stray lock of hair over his shoulder, the daiyoukai turned away. “You have two days to repair the armor.”

“ _Two days?_ ” the smith cried.

Menacingly, Sesshoumaru glared back at him. “Is that a problem?”

Toutousai flinched, then bristled, crossing his bony arms over his chest. “It’s an imposition, that’s what it is. I’m already in the middle of important work.”

The daiyoukai’s disdainful gaze flicked between the cow armor at the forge and the three-eyed creature itself, who lowed cautiously at him from its bed of straw. “I think not.” Coolly, he looked to Jakken. “Keep him on task until I return.”

Clutching the nintoujou to his chest, the imp shifted anxiously in place. “Y-yes, milord.”

The sound of Toutousai’s disgruntled muttering followed Sesshoumaru out of the skull. Stepping past Ah-Un, who was lapping at a bubbling pit of lava as if it were a pool of water, he summoned a cloud of youki beneath his feet and set off for the west.

His lands alone, it seemed, remained untouched by Naraku’s scourge. As he patrolled his territories, the fear and awe of those who dwelt within his domain was palpable. With no battles to fight and no uprisings to suppress, Sesshoumaru found himself becoming increasingly bored.

Kagome was never far from his mind, but as the dull hours passed, his thoughts turned to her all the more. Mundane as he found his surroundings and his subjects to be, thinking of how she would react to them was an amusing prospect. No doubt she would respond with a variety of strange expressions and attempt to embroil them both in ‘causes’ which were none of their concern.

She was so passionate and gregarious, so easily carried away by her sympathies and sheer enthusiasm. He would always have to be a tempering influence on her, but rather than burdened at the idea of watching over her, he found himself relishing it.

As night fell on the first day of his absence from her, Sesshoumaru’s musings darkened in turn. He remembered the flash of disappointment in her eyes as he had left her to heal, and the thought of her pining for his touch as she lay cold and alone in her hovel pleased him greatly.

Let her pine for him. Let her languish for him. Let her  _hunger_  for him—

As  _he_  hungered for her.

He imagined how she would melt in his mouth at that first taste, how thoroughly he would stretch the limits of her own. He could see those supple pink lips straining open around him, as her body had strained and opened for him that night. He looked forward to putting her properly through the paces the next time he took her, and it was this desire alone which stilled the course of his clenched fist.

He would save every ounce of his lust for her. And when he returned to her in two days’ time, she would slake him of it all.


	25. Chapter Twenty-Five

**Chapter Twenty-Five**

Sesshoumaru swept back his drenched hair as he broke the surface of the stream. The freezing current flowed around his hips, dampening the fire in his blood. As his muscles tensed at the steadying chill, he combed his claws through his long gleaming locks, moonlight shivering in the droplets that trailed along his skin.

His hair felt fine as always, but he could not help but think of how much finer it had felt after Kagome had tended to it. The soaps from her future era reminded him of those his mother and other demons employed. To think that humans would one day have the care and freedom to invent such luxuries was intriguing.

He usually did not bother with them himself, but he would have his mother’s apothecary provide Kagome with his wares. He was curious to see what she would think of them—and eager to have her slick fingers on him once again. Despite the cold, the thought had his blood simmering anew, his jaw clenching as the poorly-concealed presence of another interrupted his musings.

Without bothering to turn, he addressed the intruder, “Drop them.”

From behind him, he heard the flutter of falling cloth as his clothes returned to the shore. Glancing coolly back, he watched the demoness settle atop the boulder behind her in feigned nonchalance, a stiff smile pulling at her lips.

“Sesshoumaru-sama,” she cooed almost convincingly, her keen amber eyes catching his as she ran a set of filed claws through her silver-white hair. “It seems you could use some company.”

She was one of his own kind—a distant relation on his mother’s side. Not the sort he would have trysted with in the past, nor one who would normally engage in such behavior herself. He could only suppose that with his ascension in status, she assumed he was in want of a mate.

“Himiko,” he said brusquely as he exited the stream, his icy gaze raking over her as she blushed at his brazen nudity, “leave.”

Duly intimidated, Himiko fled. But as morning dawned, his cousin’s approach became the first of many. At every turn, it seemed, Sesshoumaru found himself warding off the advances of yet another solicitous female—each demoness who appeared before him more determined than the last. He was accustomed to being sought after, but this amount of propositioning was staggering—and supremely irritating.

As the day wore on, Sesshoumaru’s aggravation—and his suspicions—only intensified. While a glare or growl would drive off even the most persistent, the fact that another demoness would arrive on the very heels of one he had just dismissed was absolutely absurd. Clearly, they could see that he was not interested—and yet they continued to come at him all the same. He could only wonder at what madness possessed them.

By the time night fell, Sesshoumaru felt as though he himself were on the run—retreating at last to the remotest corner of his own lands in search of a reprieve from this incessant parade of grasping bitches. Kneading his brow with the pads of his claws, he reclined against the cold flinty wall of a desolate crag. Had his father, too, been hounded to this extent?

Just as his nerves were beginning to lose their edge, he sensed a faint whisper of youki encroaching upon his sanctum. His dwindling patience evaporated altogether, his eyes searing red as he rounded on the demoness with claws flexed and fangs bared. With a gasp she quailed before him, a little of his distemper receding as he saw how young she was—scarcely mature enough to mate. Wide-eyed and willowy, she regarded him in undisguised terror.

Sesshoumaru lowered his claws. Perhaps her crossing paths with him had been a mere coincidence, after all.

Then, hesitantly, she stepped forward.

“Sesshoumaru-sama,” the girl whispered, bowing her head as her trembling fingers undid her obi, her pale blue kimono slinking down to pool at her bare feet. “Please, consider me.”

For the first time that day, Sesshoumaru considered the demoness before him. Nervously, she tucked a lock of dark wavy hair behind the pointed tip of her ear, her blue eyes peeking up at him occasionally through the fringe of her bangs. She could not possibly be more reluctant to lie with him, her shoulders hunched guardedly as she strove to keep her balled fists steady at her sides.

Realizing this, he rose. At his approach, her posture went rigid, the sight striking an uneasy chord within him.

Frowning, he paused before her. Reaching down, he retrieved the girl’s discarded kimono and draped it around her shoulders. Holding it closed, she gazed up at him in bewildered relief. Exasperated, he stared back.

“Why have you come to me?” he asked her.

Anxiously, she swallowed. “J-Jakken-sama…he said—he told me that I must offer myself to you, my lord.”

Sesshoumaru’s eyes narrowed, his claws lancing into his palm. _Jakken…_

For the girl’s sake, he reined in the storm of his anger. “Go,” he ordered her tersely. “Return to your kin.”

Timidly, she nodded. Turning on her heel, she hurried away from him, into the night.

**xXxXxXx**

As dawn broke, Sesshoumaru alighted once more on the brimstone surface of Toutousai’s volcanic refuge. So, too, did his returning vassal. Catching sight of his lord as he landed, Jakken slipped quickly down from Ah-Un’s far side, concealing himself behind the dragon’s massive foreleg as he pretended to busy himself with tending to the beast.

“Jakken,” Sesshoumaru commanded, impressing even himself at how perfectly he managed to contain his blistering rage.

Sheepishly, the imp peeked around the dragon’s front. Appearing as innocent as a newborn pup, he stepped out and peered up at the daiyoukai.

“Yes, milord?”

Silence stretched between them as Sesshoumaru stared back. Lava gurgled in the surrounding pits, a hot sulfurous breeze rustling through the silk of their clothes. At Jakken’s temple, an oily drop of sweat beaded and fell.

Lightly, Sesshoumaru plucked the nintoujou from Jakken’s hands, the imp blinking up at him once in confusion before the headless end of the staff slammed down between his bulging eyes. Exhaling through locked fangs, Sesshoumaru ground his prostrate vassal into the ashen earth.

“ _No. More. Females_ ,” the daiyoukai growled, driving Jakken’s face that much deeper into the dirt with each seething word. “I do not require your _assistance_. This Sesshoumaru is more than capable of securing the woman he desires—as you well know.”

Yellow eyes swimming, the imp spluttered out a mouthful of soot as the pressure at his brow relented at last. Casting the nintoujou aside with a clatter, Sesshoumaru strode toward the gaping skull.

“Th-that miko…that _human_ ,” the imp choked out behind him on a cry, “she is not worthy of you!”

Sesshoumaru paused, glancing coldly back. “Her worth is for me to decide.”

The imp’s sullied features crumpled in despair. “Even amongst daiyoukai, you, Sesshoumaru-sama, are peerless. There is no demoness beyond your reach. Why, then, would you lower yourself for a mere mortal? Death is all their kind can bring—think of your great father, and how that woman Izayoi brought him to ruin—”

“Do not,” Sesshoumaru said lowly, hauling his distraught retainer up by the collar, “presume to lecture me, Jakken.”

The imp sagged defeatedly in his hold. “Please, milord…I speak only out of concern and devotion to you.”

Regardless of his vassal’s idiocy, Sesshoumaru knew this to be true. His gaze remained hard as he released his grip, his retainer bouncing to the ground.

“Your devotion is credited, Jakken, but your concern is misplaced.” Sweeping, the end of his tail over his shoulder, Sesshoumaru resumed his course. “I am well aware of my father’s mistakes—and I have no intention of repeating them.”

Briskly, Sesshoumaru advanced through the sharp-edged maw of Toutousai’s dwelling. At his entrance, the sound of hammering belatedly recommenced, bulbous white eyes looking anywhere but at the daiyoukai—upon whom they had unquestionably been spying.

“Hard at work, as you can see,” the old smith grumbled defensively as he made a show of sparks against the unfinished chestplate. “You said two days, so two days it shall be—and not a minute less!”

“Good.”

Closing his eyes briefly, Sesshoumaru settled back against the curved wall of the skull. For a while, he simply rested, allowing his mind to clear and his temper to ease.

By tonight, he would be reunited with Kagome. It seemed far longer than two days since he had left her, and so for her, it must have seemed an eternity. Waiting did not sit well with her. The corner of his mouth lifted as he pictured her whiling away the hours without him in sulky impatience—pacing and huffing and attempting to divert herself with her menial human chores and companions.

With nothing better to do himself, he unsheathed Tessaiga and studied its various forms. In his mind’s eye, they were clear to him—the brilliant gold of its primary transformation; the blazing red of its second; the electric blue, vitriolic green, roiling purple, scintillating orange, and shades more in the spectrum of its subsequent forms. There was only one which remained indistinct—dark and disembodied, a mere shadow of a shape. His brow furrowed as he held the sword before him, attempting to draw it out.

“It’s no good, that.”

Sesshoumaru looked aside in question. Sitting cross-legged before his forge, with the completed armor at his hip, Toutousai frowned toward Tessaiga.

“Your father wrested the powers of many a defeated foe,” the swordsmith explained, tugging at the wisps of his beard. “Yet there was one which he deemed too unstable to reside within Tessaiga. This was why Tenseiga was created—to contain the power of the Meidou Zangetsuha.”

Sheathing Tessaiga, Sesshoumaru withdrew the fang of his inheritance instead. Thin and brilliant, the mirrored surface of Tenseiga’s blade gleamed mockingly in his hands.

“A sword which cannot cut—a mere vessel for an imperfect technique,” he spoke, a brittle smile framing his lips. “This cast off piece is what my father left to me.”

_And yet_ , Sesshoumaru asked himself, _why should I have ever expected more?_

His father had made his sentiments clear. Inuyasha was the heir of his choosing. To Sesshoumaru went only the bitter leavings of Touga’s regard.

And his legacy.

“If you believe that,” Toutousai bit out sternly, “then you are a hopeless fool.”

Sesshoumaru moved toward him with a forbidding glare. “Insult me again, Toutousai, and even your usefulness will not be enough to spare you.”

Snatching up the armor, the daiyoukai left the skull. Without even a word of command, Jakken readied Ah-Un in shaky haste, and together, under the dark cloud of Sesshoumaru’s resurrected fury, they departed for Edo village.

The sun was setting as they returned to the village at last. Touching down in a clearing in the outlying woods, the daiyoukai continued on his way alone. As he approached the last line of trees, he saw her. Far from anxious or despondent, Kagome seemed perfectly content as she walked arm-in-arm with her taijiya friend, laughing and talking with the slayer and the monk and the children as she went.

From a distance, Sesshoumaru continued to watch her, his mood darkening further at every easy smile that graced her lips. It was clear she had not missed him as he had thought she would. As night fell and she dined with the others in the home of the elderly one-eyed miko, he began to doubt that she remembered him at all. Not once so far had she even spoken his name.

Sesshoumaru’s jaw clenched harder as the long minutes passed without the slightest sign of her consideration for him. It was as if he did not even exist to her in his mind.

As she finally parted ways with her human companions, Sesshoumaru stalked her and Entei back to her hut at the edge of the village. The horse youkai’s ears twitched toward him in question, but the girl remained ever oblivious to his presence. He, on the other hand, was feverishly attuned to her. Listening from outside, he heard her hum pleasantly to herself as she prepared for bed, joking occasionally with the horse.

Fuming, Sesshoumaru found himself unable to bear her disregard any longer. Striding through the curtained door, he took hold of her by both of her bare arms and backed her up against the wall behind her. A startled gasp left her lips, the horse giving an irritated snort as he cantered from the dwelling.

Wide blue eyes stared up at him in surprise. “Sesshoumaru, you—”

His mouth crushed down on hers before she could finish. Her sweet taste made him groan, his fangs nicking her closed lips as he prised them apart and thrust his tongue in to claim her. She whimpered into him, her fingers snagging desperately in his sleeves. She needed to breathe, and he needed to stifle her—as she had so thoughtlessly stifled him.

Half-undressed, only her straining undergarment concealed her otherwise naked chest. His claws hooked into the straps at her shoulders, her breasts springing free as he wrenched the whole contraption down around her. Seizing hold of one heavy swell, he broke from her with a growl as he turned her, shoving her front-first into the wall.

“…S-Sesshoumaru,” she stammered, pushing back against him as he yanked down her hakama and ripped open the ties of his own.

There would be time later for her pleasure. Right now Sesshoumaru could think only of his own, his need to be within her consuming him as he brought his burning flesh against hers.

“ _Sesshoumaru!_ ”

The sound of her crying out his name enflamed him further. Setting his fangs against her shoulder, he pushed and parted her, seeking her entrance. The moment he met it, she went silent and still.

Rigid.

Snarling in frustration, he drew back and spun her around to face him. “You _cannot_ be hurting still.”

Her hard eyes glistened as she snatched up her fallen hakama and shielded her breasts with an arm. “That was never the issue.”

Righting his own clothing, he glared fiercely at her in turn. If pain was not the reason for her reluctance, then he could only conclude that he had displeased her in some way. It rankled him to even consider that his performance had been lacking. She had seemed to enjoy herself quite well the night they had lain together, and at this thought, his temper flared.

“So,” he seethed, “you have had your _fill_ of me, is that it?”

Her eyes flashed at the accusation. “I’ve had my fill of being treated like a sex toy or just another place to put your seed. Go mark your territory somewhere else, Sesshoumaru, if that’s all you care about.”

His claws cracked as he fought the urge to strike her. Despite his status, despite his nature, despite his beliefs and his better judgment, he had made her his. And this was how she repaid him—with insolence and scorn.

“You,” he ground out in barely-contained wrath, “are my woman.”

To his furious disbelief, she still had the audacity to set her jaw against him. “Even if I am, that doesn’t make me your slave.”

He laughed shortly, shaking his head. “Did you not give yourself to me as such?” She retreated into the wall as he as advanced a step. “If I want to mark you, if I want to _fuck_ you,” he said just to make her flinch, “what can you possibly say against it?”

She scowled up at him in defiance. “I’d say that you’ve already gotten what you want from me, it seems.”

His lips thinned as he trapped her against him, his flexed claws caging her in at the cheeks. “When I have gotten what I want from you, Kagome,” he promised her lowly, “you will know.”

She turned her face away from him, her voice faint but steady. “You’re better than this, Sesshoumaru.”

He had expected her to struggle and to plead, but her reproach checked him in a way that her protests never could. Here he was, hurling himself repeatedly at a girl who did not want him, threatening to force himself upon her like a savage beast. _She_ —a lowly human—had driven him to such a state.

Sesshoumaru was above this self-debasement, this senseless longing. He was above _her_.

Bitter and ashamed, he withdrew, a rueful smile twisting his lips as he looked coldly down upon her. “You are right.”

Turning, he crossed to the door, leaving Kagome and her miserable human concerns behind him.

**xXxXxXx**

“Kagome-chan?” Sango asked in surprise as she pulled back the door curtain.

“Hi, Sango-chan,” the miko replied hopefully, her arms hugging about her chest. “Sorry to bother you so late. Do you think I could sleep over again tonight?”

Sango smiled, holding open the curtain as she stepped back inside. “Of course—come on in.”

Nodding gratefully, Kagome entered the cozy dwelling. At once the slumbering kids and neko awoke in excitement, and it was a while before the miko and taijiya could calm them down enough to get them back to bed. Releasing a sigh as their features smoothed with sleep once more, Kagome joined Sango in the adjoining room, where her friend was oiling a set of throwing knives by candlelight. As the miko sank down at the opposite side of the table, the taijiya paused in her task, glancing over at Kagome in concern.

“Did something happen, Kagome-chan?” Sango ventured quietly. “You seem upset…”

‘Upset’ was putting it mildly. ‘Devastated’ was closer to the mark—’heartbroken’? Now there was a word that sounded appropriately melodramatic enough to describe Kagome’s feelings of emotional distress.

She sighed again, twiddling a stray bit of twine. “Sesshoumaru came back to the village tonight. We kind of, um, got into it.”

Another understatement, but somehow the idea of telling Sango the daiyoukai had shoved her up against a wall and nearly taken advantage of her in a fit of anger just didn’t seem like it would go over very well with her demon-slayer friend.

“I see,” Sango said neutrally. “What about?”

Kagome fidgeted with the string again. A couple of nights ago, after Sesshoumaru had left, Kagome had finally admitted to Sango that she and Sesshoumaru were ‘involved’, so to speak. This revelation had come as absolutely no surprise to her taijiya friend, but Kagome knew that the sordid details would shock her to say the least. Truth be told, they still shocked Kagome herself to a degree. And so she’d withheld them—out of discretion, she’d told herself.

There was no need to go into similar detail now. How could she tell her friend, who herself was in a healthy respectful relationship, that the guy Kagome was hopelessly in love with only wanted her for sex?

“You know,” the miko said evasively, “the usual guy-girl stuff.”

Sango arched a skeptical brow. “Kagome-chan,” she said, setting aside her work as she met the miko’s gaze, “there’s something I’ve wanted to ask you.”

Kagome’s pulse thrummed in dread. “Y-yeah?”

“It was Sesshoumaru-sama who you were fleeing from that night, wasn’t it? The night you returned to your era.”

“Ah,” Kagome realized, her shoulders sinking. “Miroku-san told you about their confrontation, then.”

Sango frowned. “…What confrontation?”

“Er, that’s another story, I guess…” Kagome hedged. “But, yeah, it was Sesshoumaru. I wasn’t in full control of my powers back then, and I was worried he might retaliate after I injured him with my reiki.”

“While you were attempting to restore his arm?” Sango guessed, based on what Kagome had told her of her prior arrangement with Sesshoumaru.

The miko blushed, nodding. _Yeah, let’s go with that…_

It occurred to Kagome that her altercation with Sesshoumaru tonight was rather reminiscent of the one from that night almost a year ago, when she’d removed her seal from his arm and come face-to-face with the obsessive lust he’d been harboring for her. Had anything really changed, she wondered, since that day?

Looking at the troubled expression on Sango’s face, Kagome could see that her friend seemed to be wondering the same.

“Are you sure that you can trust him, Kagome-chan?” the taijiya asked quietly.

The question struck her. She had harmed Sesshoumaru once—nearly killed him with her unchecked purification—but he had never harmed _her_. Not even tonight, when she could see how enraged he’d become when she’d refused him.

Sesshoumaru would never love her as she had come to love him, but he would never hurt her, either. The only one hurting Kagome, she realized, was herself.

Smiling softly but resolutely, she held Sango’s gaze. “I’m sure.”

**xXxXxXx**

Despite the brave face she’d put on for her friend, a part of Kagome had feared that Sesshoumaru might abandon her after their falling-out the evening before. But as morning rolled around and she left Sango’s hut to collect her weapons and pack, to her vast relief, she saw him. Red-hued by the light of dawn, he stood stonily with Jakken and Ah-Un near Kaede’s home, his hard eyes glinting toward the south.

Shifting her quiver across her shoulder, Kagome approached him with Entei at her side. “Sesshoumaru,” she said, looking up at him with a small, grateful smile, “you’re still here.”

Almost imperceptible, a slight clench of his jaw was the only change in his expression. “This Sesshoumaru,” he returned coolly, “keeps his word.”

There was a barb in that reply, and it certainly stung. Wounded, Kagome dropped her gaze.

A few minutes later, Sango, Miroku and Kirara arrived, rested and geared up for the journey ahead. With Rin on one hand and Shippou on the other, Kaede followed after them to see the group of warriors off.

“Kagome-chan!” Shippou cried as he launched himself into the miko’s arms. “…Can’t I come with you?”

Clinging to Sesshoumaru at the knee, Rin seemed to be pleading the same. Turning a little away, Kagome smiled proudly down at her adopted kit, who had grown so very much over the past few years.

“You’ve become really strong, Shippou-kun,” she said earnestly. “And you’ve protected me a bunch of times. But the village needs protecting too. Kaede-baa-chan, Rin-chan, and all the other villagers—they’re depending on you now. Be strong for them, okay?”

Wiping at his eyes, the fox boy nodded solemnly. “I will, Kagome-chan.” Puffing out his tiny chest, he grinned. “You can count on me!”

Kagome grinned back, ruffling his orange bangs until he bounded away with a blush and an exaggerated groan of protest. As Kaede stepped forward to give her protégé a parting embrace, it was Kagome’s turn to flush in embarrassment.

“Red clover leaves, steeped fresh or dried—an herbal tea ye shall find most useful, methinks.” With a crinkle of her lone eye toward Sesshoumaru, the elderly miko stepped back. “As did I, in the forays of my youth.”

“I’ll, uh…I’ll keep that in mind,” Kagome managed weakly, her image of her mentor as a chaste old maid forever shattered.

Though judging by Sesshoumaru’s frosty demeanor, Kagome didn’t think she had much to worry about on that front. As she and her group of friends and allies set out at last toward the south in pursuit of Naraku, it became abundantly clear to Kagome that Sesshoumaru wanted as little to do with her as possible. Every time she tried to speak to him, he either responded in a few terse words if what she asked was relevant to their mission, or ignored her altogether if it was not.

The discord between them was palpable and unsettling for everyone. Even Jakken, who initially seemed relieved at his lord’s icy treatment of Kagome, soon became disconcerted by all the tension. More than once, the spurned miko caught him, Sango and Miroku exchanging uneasy glances after Sesshoumaru coldly addressed or rebuffed her.

It was a dismal pattern that continued to manifest itself as their search went on. Only the fact that they were making progress kept Kagome’s sinking spirits afloat. Chilly and distant as he was, the daiyoukai followed Kagura’s days’ old trail with seemingly perfect ease—until all of a sudden, he drew short.

Golden eyes narrowed, he continued to stand rooted to the spot. As the others hung back warily, Kagome picked her way across the marsh to meet him.

“Sesshoumaru?” she ventured. “What’s wrong?”

“Kagura’s scent,” he replied, his sharp gaze cutting to her. “It has vanished.”

Despite the inu daiyoukai’s expert tracking abilities, the trail to Naraku had gone abruptly and inexplicably cold. With no other leads to go on, Kagome suggested they resume the hunt for the missing Jewel fragments instead, hoping that their paths would cross with Naraku or his minions along the way. Further and further south they pressed in their quest, but rumors of Jewel shards were few and far between. By the time Kagome and her group followed the rumors to the source, the shard—if ever it had even been there to begin with—had already been claimed, with only death and devastation remaining in its wake.

Frustrated and demoralized, the group trudged wearily on through the boggy and densely-wooded southern landscape. Even Sesshoumaru became increasingly haggard and unapproachable, his cold disdain for Kagome transitioning to simmering hostility as the long, fruitless days wore on. Every look he sent her was so razor-edged, every word so fanged that she did her best to avoid him altogether—though even this hardly seemed to help matters.

For more than a week now, she had barely slept, and it wasn’t just the lumpy, mucky earth and harsh living conditions that were to blame. Her heart was so sick with pain and remorse, so weak with neglect that she lay awake starving at night even when her stomach was full.

During Sesshoumaru’s three-day absence from Edo village, she had been able to put him from her mind by sheer force of will. But that willpower was gone, and to be around him like this day in and day out, to be so close to him physically but so far away emotionally, was pure torture. She missed being _truly_ near him—missed his calm assurance, his dry sense of humor, even his prickly moods and snootiness. She missed his touch, too—so much so in fact that sometimes, in her darkest moments, she regretted not just letting him have his way with her that night before they’d left Edo, the thought only making her feel that much more pathetic as it passed.

So wretched in the purgatory she was mired in, Kagome gathered her meager strength and approached him at last. Leaning against a fallen cypress tree at the edge of the clearing, Sesshoumaru eyed her critically as she stopped before him.

“I’ve been thinking,” she began—not quite able to withstand the severity of his gaze after all—as she bowed her head and clasped her arms, “that maybe we should go our separate ways.”

His youki blazed, Kagome backing up a step as he rose. Swallowing, she darted an anxious glance at him through her bangs.

“N-not that I don’t appreciate all that you’ve done for us,” she stammered on, “but this situation just doesn’t seem to be working out anymore…a-and—”

“You have been _thinking_ ,” he said scathingly, “that you can simply dismiss me.”

Totally unprepared and unequipped for another confrontation with him, Kagome shivered as she ducked her head again. “I…I just thought—”

“Return to your bed,” he bit out, Kagome stumbling as he drove her off in that direction, “and keep your foolish thoughts to yourself.”

Sleep eluded the weary miko once again as she retreated to her bedroll. As commanded, she kept her thoughts to herself—scarcely having the energy to think them, let alone express them, at any rate.

Another bleak day dawned, another poor village ravaged by Naraku’s greed for the Jewel—the Jewel which Kagome herself had brought here and unleashed upon Sengoku Jidai like a plague. As they passed through the ruined, corpse-strewn square, her crushing burden of guilt and despair compounded further.

_All these people…_ Kagome thought faintly, grievously, as she wandered almost in a daze through the wreckage, her bow dangling loosely from her hand. _All these lives lost because of me._

How many more people would die? How many more would continue to suffer because of Kagome and her mistakes?

Amidst the hellish backdrop of carnage and destruction, a soft glimmer of white caught her attention, and Kagome moved dreamily toward it before collapsing to her knees in the torn, muddy earth. As her raw, blearing eyes struggled to focus, she noticed too late the large insect-like demon gorging itself on a dead body nearby. She fumbled for an arrow as the youkai lunged toward her, the wooden shaft slipping through her listless fingers a moment before Tessaiga cleaved the insect in two.

Frowning, Sesshoumaru stared down at her, gleaming sword still outstretched between them. For a second, Kagome thought she saw a gleam of something in his eyes, too, before her own tired gaze fell to the ground once more. Dimly, she registered the sound of Sango and Miroku’s sprinting footsteps as they rushed onto the scene.

“Kagome-chan, are you all right?” the taijiya panted from behind. Her voice was edged with caution as she moved closer, Hiraikotsu thudding softly down beside her. “Kagome-chan…what is it?”

Head bowed, Kagome studied the faint circles of white before her—a patch of small ivory blossoms, their delicate petals marred by streaks of reddish-black.

“The first flowers of spring,” she answered.


	26. Chapter Twenty-Six

**Chapter Twenty-Six**

While the women bathed, Sesshoumaru leaned with his back to them against a nearby tree. As much as he had resolved to keep his distance from her, after Kagome’s inept display earlier that day, he had been reluctant to let her out of his sight.

She did not smell it, but perhaps she was ill in some way. Frailty was so intrinsic in humans that it was difficult, at times, for him to distinguish between their various afflictions. Once, he recalled, Rin had slept fitfully for the better part of two days simply because they had passed by the village of her birth.

Kagome certainly seemed afflicted in his estimation, and he had observed her long enough to judge. For a human, she was remarkably resilient—no doubt owing to her vast spiritual power. Yet, if he thought back some weeks, he could see the beginnings of this decline in her. As much as it vexed him to consider, the symptoms traced back to the night he had taken her.

Remote though it was, he considered the possibility that she was with child. This union of theirs was unheard of—who knew what toll such a conception might take? He was as dubious of the efficacy of her contraceptive as he was of its safety. The false fertility it seemed to evoke in her set his instincts on edge.

When her blood had come upon her a week ago, it had been all he could do to keep himself in check. False or not, her heat antagonized him almost as much as the girl herself. The urge to go to her was near insurmountable, but he had endeavored not to give in to the base demands of his own blood. Callously, she had rejected him, and before he could lie with her again—before he could even _acknowledge_ her again—he needed her to admit that she had wronged him.

His pride demanded no less.

When she had come to him the night before, meek and contrite and seeming at last properly humbled by his reprimand, he had thought that she sought to make amends with him, to ask for his forgiveness. But instead…

His fist clenched at the recollection. Instead of submitting herself to him, she had insulted him once again. As if he would leave his own woman in enemy lands—and with her in such a weakened state. The mere suggestion of it was offensive.

He had underestimated her stubbornness—her sheer nerve. It was rare that anyone dared to try him, and the absurdity of being tried so relentlessly by a human girl chafed at him to no end. What, he wondered, could she possibly hope to gain from it?

Sesshoumaru grit his fangs in frustration. What did she _want_ from him?

“…Thanks, Sango-chan, but I think I’ll stay out by myself a little longer.”

“Are you sure? It’s getting late…”

“Yeah.” A tired sigh. “I’m not ready to go to bed just yet.”

The taijiya was hesitant. “All right, Kagome-chan.”

There was the sound of splashing as the slayer returned to shore, the rustle of cloth as she dressed a minute later. As her footsteps faded in the direction of the camp, Sesshoumaru turned.

Thin and hunched as Kagome was, standing alone in the shallows of the spring, the moment his eyes fell upon her, Sesshoumaru realized his error. At the sight of her wet, naked body in moonlit profile, his weeks-long frustration reached a vicious peak. Her dripping hair clung to her back and shoulders, a few glossy tendrils curved over her breasts as she hugged them close to her chest. Water glimmered diamond-bright from her skin, a few drops glittering in the dark fur that dusted her sex.

Sesshoumaru’s claws gouged deep into the trunk of the tree.

In that moment, he despised her.

He doubted she would even resist him if he pinned her to the bank and ravished her. A perverse part of him whispered that perhaps this had been her plan all along—to bring him to such a point of desperation that his will would be shattered. Perhaps _this_ was what a woman did to a demon like himself.

Like his father.

 _Brought him to ruin_ , Jakken had said.

As her arms fell away, Sesshoumaru’s resistance crumbled.

With the last vestiges of his self-control, he retreated into the wilderness. He cast off his swords, his armor. He tore off his clothes and surrendered to his lust. On his hands and knees like the low beast he was, he pleasured himself raw to that hateful image of her until all the venom he held for her bled out of him onto the dirt below. Panting and quaking in the aftermath, he sat back on his haunches and gripped his face in his soiled claws.

When the red haze cleared from his vision, he picked himself up at last.

Clean and clothed once more, he returned to the campsite in resignation. She was awake still, her leaden eyes fixed upon the fading embers of the fire. When he looked at her now, he didn’t see a conniving seductress—he saw a young girl, wan and fatigued, and perhaps even as defeated as himself.

She gazed up at him as his shadow fell over her, and he wondered, as he gazed down at her in turn, if that made her hold over him all the worse.

“Come with me,” he said to her at last.

Stiffly, Kagome stood and followed him to the edge of the campsite. As youki gathered beneath his feet, she moved closer and took a hesitant hold of his sleeve. Rising far above the tops of the trees, they soared high through the cloudless night, out of the southern lands and into the west.

Sesshoumaru’s eyes narrowed as he scanned the moonlit landscape of his home. Every mountain and valley were familiar. Every forest and field held significance to him in some way, but there was a place in particular he sought. A place he had not visited for some time.

At last, as they flew low over the wooded hinterlands bordering the rocky coast, his eyes fell upon his destination. Landing before the grove of trees, Kagome’s head tilted inquisitively—as if she, too, could sense the magic of this place. Trailing a little behind him, she followed him to the grove, which shimmered almost imperceptibly as he passed through.

Drawing up beside him, Kagome released a soft sound of awe.

Silvered and rustling with its own light floral breeze, an enchanted meadow sprawled before them, dotted here and there with flowering and fruit-laden trees. Perfectly clear, a mirrored stream wound through the space, whispering merrily over the smooth stones that glittered at its bed. Large and bright above them, the moon shone—closer here than outside the grove—its pale radiance burnishing the grass and fruits and leaves and glowing through the gauzy wings of the moths that fluttered past.

Wide-eyed at the beauty of her surroundings, Kagome wandered ahead. Sesshoumaru watched as she knelt at the bank of the stream, running her palms over the soft gleaming grass blades, skimming her fingertips over the water’s glassy surface. Blue and glittering, her eyes lifted to him in wonder.

“Where are we, exactly?”

Stepping forward, Sesshoumaru stood beneath the shade of a silver-barked tree. As his claws touched to the bell-shaped white blossoms drooping from its branches, a faint chime rang out.

“My mother’s bower,” he answered. “A gift to her from my father.”

“It’s beautiful,” Kagome said, rising and walking over to another tree studded with jewel-like berries. She studied them for a moment before glancing back. “…Can I eat these?”

Sesshoumaru considered. If by some chance she were poisoned, he could always revive her with Tenseiga.

“I suppose.”

Eagerly, she plucked one of the fruits from its stem and popped it into her mouth, her features pinching at the tartness. “…Those are better just to look at, I think.”

Sesshoumaru agreed, but his mother had a penchant for the flavor. Crouching down again, Kagome sighed as she breathed in the fragrance of a cluster of standing starburst blooms.

“Do you come here a lot?” she asked, looking back over at him shyly.

“When I was a child, I played here often.” His claws traced along the shimmering bark in remembrance. “My mother would sit beneath this tree, while I defended her from imaginary foes.”

“You must miss her,” Kagome said gently after a moment.

“Miss her.” His eyes slanted toward her. “Haha-ue is still alive.”

“Oh,” Kagome said, her expression falling slack a moment later as realization dawned. “… _Oh_.”

An embarrassed flush stole across her cheeks, her gaze returning to the flowers again as she fidgeted with their silky leaves. For once, as he reflected on the subject, Sesshoumaru himself felt remarkably at ease.

“Chichi-ue held my mother in high regard,” he said as he approached her. “But his affections were for Izayoi.”

Kagome looked up at him in sympathy as he stopped before her. “I’m sorry, Sesshoumaru. That must have been very painful.”

Forsaken though she was, his mother had taken his father’s betrayal in her usual measured stride. It was Sesshoumaru who had been truly wounded by it, who had felt spurned and displaced. Despite their differences, he realized, he had missed his father.

He missed him still.

“It was,” he found himself admitting to her as he slipped his tail from his shoulder and placed it in her hands. “This grove is protected. You can sleep safely here. I won’t be far.”

Frowning, she clutched his fur to her chest. As he turned to leave, her fingers curled around his own.

Sesshoumaru glanced back at her in question.

“Please,” she said, her voice wavering slightly as she held his gaze. “Please, don’t go.”

Sesshoumaru frowned as he regarded her.

He should leave. He had brought Kagome here to rest and recover her strength. To remain any longer ran counter to that aim.

Yet he asked her all the same, “You wish for me to stay with you?”

Her grip on his hand tightened as she nodded, her large brilliant eyes gleaming up at him in supplication, and he knew that he could never refuse her. Setting his swords aside in the grass, Sesshoumaru unclasped and removed his armor as he reclined against the jewel-fruited tree and pulled her to him. With a contented sigh, she settled into the crook of his arm, her hand splaying across the center of his chest.

“Thank you,” she said, her eyes closing briefly as her fingers curled against him, “for bringing me here.”

His arm fell, curving around her waist as he drew her closer in. “This place pleases you, then?”

“It’s wonderful.” Red fanned across her cheeks as she gazed up at him. “You’re wonderful.”

For a moment, as he gazed back at her, Sesshoumaru found himself at a rare loss. A curious warmth spread through him at her words, his pulse quickening ever so slightly beneath her palm.

“The hour is late,” he said, his free hand rising to her face as he touched the pad of his thumb to the shadows beneath her eyes. “You should sleep.”

She nodded, her own fingertips lifting to trace the stripes on his cheek.

His claws curved back into her hair. “You need your rest for the journey ahead.”

Nodding again, she guided his face down to hers. Their brows touched briefly, his lashes descending as he breathed her in.

“Kagome…” he murmured, as if in a dream.

Her lips brushed against his as she spoke his name in turn, her fingers trailing to his neck. There was no sense of urgency, no mad drive in him to possess her. Closing the meager distance between them, he kissed her slowly, lingeringly, savoring the glide of her mouth against his.

The only need he felt was to be closer to her—a need she seemed to echo as she slipped her fingers beneath the collar of his haori. Lips remaining upon hers, he shrugged out of both layers of silk, her hands leaving his skin only to bare her own. Their need for one another ferried them to the ground, a soft, shared groan passing between them as his naked chest fit to hers.

Sesshoumaru broke briefly from her then, continuing languorously down her throat, her breasts, her stomach and thighs—his mouth departing her body only to return to hers, again and again. It was her small deft fingers that loosened the ties of his hakama at last, that drew him to her as he rose from the cradle of her hips and combined her two heavenly tastes together between them.

Her tongue pressed into him as he pressed into her. Each unhurried thrust pulled them both deeper in, her arms and legs clutching around him as she embraced him fully from within. He was lost in her, drowning in her. As he felt his desire for her close over him, he could see that she was drowning, too.

“Sesshoumaru,” she breathed out as her bliss overcame her in waves. “Oh, Sesshoumaru…”

In the centuries he had walked upon this earth, he had never heard a sweeter sound. The rock of her hips carried him over, the pulse of her release resonating with his own. He brought his lips to hers again as they rode out their pleasure together as one, his body continuing to surge forward, continuing to seek her still.

At the scent of her tears, he drew reluctantly back.

Her head was turned away, her bent arm rising to shield her features as they crumpled. Still inside her, Sesshoumaru raised his hand to her wrist, feeling strangely helpless as he pulled her arm aside. Tears trickled down her temples as she squeezed her eyes tightly closed.

“Kagome,” he said, his voice roughening as he entreated her, “look at me.”

Grimacing, she shook her head.

“Look at me,” he faintly growled. “Tell me what's wrong.”

“Please, Sesshoumaru,” she whimpered, shaking her head again. “Please, don’t make me…”

He grit his fangs as he took her face between his claws. “ _Tell me._ ”

She swallowed dryly as her damp lashes parted, the pain mirrored in her eyes arresting him completely. He could see now what it was that had been plaguing her. He could see what it was that had made her so perilously feeble, so acutely wretched—this frailty, this _weakness_. He recognized what it was long before the words fell from her lips—he could see it all in that eternal moment when he looked into her eyes and saw his own weakness reflected back.

“I love you,” she whispered brokenly. “Sesshoumaru, I love you…”

The truth hit him like a death knell, his claws biting into her as he clenched his eyes shut in denial.

_I love you._

His breath hissed through the vise of his fangs, his face snapping sharply to the side.

_I…_

He could feel it rising within him, smothering him—this knowledge, this _feeling_.

This affliction.

_…I love you._

Lurking within him, the sickness swelled, dark and mocking—lying latent in his bones since the very beginning. Since the first time he laid his eyes upon her, it had been there—festering, waiting. The evidence, the _proof_ —

“No,” he snarled, wrenching her over to hide her damning gaze. “ _No._ ”

But it was not enough. Even with her face pushed to the grass, he could still see it. Written in her skin like a proclamation, like a decree from the gods themselves—

His fate, inescapable. The curse of his blood, irreversible.

 _Incurable_.

“…Sesshoumaru!” Kagome choked out as his claws lengthened. “Sesshoumaru, _stop!_ ”

He heard her only distantly as he roared in anguished protest, the red fog of his desperation eclipsing all else. He could feel death bearing down upon him as he bore down upon her—

“… _Sesshoumaru_ —“

His claws were sinking, scraping—

“… _S—Sesshoumaru—NO!_ ”

Rending—

 _Tearing_.

 **xXxXxXx**   

_Fire._

She was on fire.

Kagome’s jaw wired tight, her nails carving trenches into the soft earth below. Tears streamed down her burning cheeks as she scalded from without and within, every nerve and muscle straining to withstand the blaze.

 _No!_ she screamed to herself. _I won’t—I WON’T!_

Reiki seared through her veins, roiled like lava beneath her skin. Again and again, the scorching tempest of her own spiritual power ripped through her, demanding an outlet—demanding to unleash itself on her demonic attacker in a torrential, purifying flood.

If she gave even an inch, she would surely kill him.

Sesshoumaru…

Low in her throat, Kagome choked on a silent sob. _Sesshoumaru, why…_

Her insides cooled as she reined in her power at last, and now there was only the inferno at her back—a pain so immense it consumed her completely, a dark void of torment with no beginning and no end. A black hole that sucked in her entire existence, compressing it to a singular point of absolute agony.

 _No more_ , she pleaded. _No more, no more, no more…_

But the pain went on and on. Had there ever been anything else? Her mind cracked as she struggled to remember, as she struggled to hold on to herself.

But pieces of her were already slipping away. Her vision dimmed. Her body went slack. Distantly, she realized she was dying. A growing part of her even _wanted_ to die—just so that the pain would be over.

 _Please,_ she cried out from within. _Please, make it stop…_

_Make it stop._

And then, suddenly, it did.

**xXxXxXx**

Liquid heat gushed over Sesshoumaru’s fingers, the scent of iron assaulting his senses—jolting him violently back to himself.

As his hellish vision began to clear, a new nightmare rose to replace it, sharpening into terrible, vicious relief.

Beneath him, Kagome was silent and still. Her glassy eyes stared at nothing, her back ripped open from shoulder to hip. Blood streamed from her scored flesh, spilled over her sides as she lay lifelessly there.

Then, to his deepening horror, she stirred.

 **xXxXxXx**  

Kagome blinked, drawing in a shuddering breath. She could see the silvery grass now, still faintly rippling in the warm, scented breeze. Beside her temples, her stiff fingers twitched as she tested them, her heart pounding sluggishly in her chest. Slowly, she pulled her numb body forward at a crawl, out from underneath his, her stomach sliding sickeningly over the blood-slicked ground.

Her lungs heaved as she sat up, cold sweat breaking out across her shivering skin. Everything was coated red—her body, her clothes, the grass, _him_. Unmoving, Sesshoumaru crouched, rigid as a statue, his shadowed gaze riveted straight down before him. Turning away, Kagome haltingly stood, gripping the nearby tree for support as she stepped shakily into her hakama and pulled her haori about her, her nausea quelling slightly once she’d covered her bloodied self up.

Sesshoumaru made no move to stop her as she trudged ahead, leaving him and the grove behind.

Magic buffeted faintly at her skin as she stepped out into the surrounding wilderness. Even with the stars guiding her, she struggled to find her way. Beneath her feet, the ground was rocky and loose, and more than once, she lost her footing on the crumbling ridge and was forced to pick herself up again.

Doggedly, wretchedly, Kagome pressed on. After yet another jarring fall, she hauled herself up by the rough trunk of a fir tree, tears of anguish coursing freely down her cheeks.

_Why…why did it come to this…_

Her teeth pierced her lower lip as she pushed herself onward again, her sandals catching on every rock and root. Her head swam, muddled with grief. Farther and farther, she wandered through the night with no real sense of direction, with no destination even in mind. All she could think was to get away—to get as far away as she could from him.

_Sesshoumaru…_

Her hand clutched to her throat in despair. Keenly, she felt the violence of his rejection—gouging her far deeper than his claws ever could.

 _This_ was how abhorrent her love was to him. This was why she had tried not to tell him—why she had tried to hold herself together. She had tried to be content with what she had. She had _tried_ , but…

Tripping, Kagome crashed to her knees again.

 _…I wanted too much._ Her sticky hands clenched around her thighs. _I pushed him too far._

Unable to stand, Kagome dragged herself up, onto a slab of stone. Her tears pattered against the smooth rock, the blood her haori was unable to wick away threading down her arm to pool at her fingertips. _I must be in shock_ , she figured, wondering at her lack of sensation.

Then, finally, she saw it—stabbing her straight in the chest.

Trembling, her fingers rose to the Jewel shard embedded in her—pink and glowing still. As she tugged on it, her back began to flame again, a flare of such intense agony assaulting her that she doubled over with a cry.

“You seem to be in a great deal of pain, priestess.”

Swallowing, Kagome glanced blearily up at the figure striding toward her through the darkness. Silver hair, white skin—in her blurring sight, in her blurring mind, her first dazed thought was that it was Sesshoumaru, come to finish her off. As the moonlight revealed him, Kagome drew back.

“W-who are you?” she rasped.

Pale blue lips curved into a smile. “My name,” he answered, “is Magatsuhi.” The demon’s smile deepened at her unease, his vast youki smothering her as he continued to advance. “I have come for the Jewel shard which you possess.”

Kagome grit her teeth as she clapped a hand over the fragment buried in her breast. “You can’t have it.”

“Such bravery.” Red eyes glinted as he moved toward her still. “…For one so close to death.”

“S-stay back,” she warned. “One step closer, and I’ll purify you.”

“Purify _me_?” the demon laughed. “Foolish girl…”

A cold wave washed over her as her reiki receded, the Jewel shard within her darkening to black. As her consciousness faded, an icy finger traced along her cheek.

“…You are no threat to me.”


	27. Chapter Twenty-Seven

**Chapter Twenty-Seven**

Blood red eyes swam briefly into focus.

“…Well done, Magatsuhi. It was good of you to bring her here.”

Blue lips pulled into an icy smile. “I thought the girl might be of interest to you.”

As the shadows closed in, a silky voice replied.

“Oh, most assuredly…”

**xXxXxXx**

_What have I done?_

Frozen, Sesshoumaru stared down at his bloodied claws, the image of Kagome’s sundered flesh fixed beneath them still. He had mutilated her. With these hands, he had maimed an innocent girl—mauled her, like a rabid beast.

Her blood glared up at him in accusation—from his skin, from his hair, from the ground below. So drenched in red, the grass no longer moved in the breeze, the cracks in his caked knuckles revealing only another layer of crimson underneath. The sight of carnage had never before unsettled him, but _this_ … Revolted to the core, he forced himself to look upon the evidence of her suffering, self-disgust welling like acid in his throat.

He had been right, in the end—

He was not like his father. His father would never have done this to Izayoi.

_I am nothing_ , he realized. _Lower than an animal._

Kagome should have put him down like an animal. She could have—but instead, she had lain there and let him brutalize her to the point of death. Because she was above retaliation—because she was above _him_.

Because she loved him.

_Kagome…_

Sesshoumaru bowed his head in deepest shame.

He would live out the rest of his days in regret and disgrace, in the shadow of a dream of what his life might have been, had he not wronged her. This nightmare was his reality, but for now he must put his own misery aside and face her, unworthy though he was. Somehow, she had survived, and she needed his aid.

But when he tore his eyes away at last from the site of his transgressions, Kagome was not there.

She had left the grove—and its protection. Instantly, Sesshoumaru was alarmed. There were any number of beasts and youkai in this area who might attempt to prey on a lone human girl—and with her in such a vulnerable state…

Dressing quickly, he followed the meandering trail of her blood down the rocky slope. She had fallen often, each desperate streak and smear hitting him like a physical blow, the salt of her tears stinging him as he scented the air. As dawn broke, he reached the end of the trail. Bracing himself at the sight of her gathered blood, Sesshoumaru rounded the wide aged tree before him and approached the slab of weathered stone.

Once again, Kagome was nowhere to be seen—yet there was another scent here beside her own.

The scent of an unfamiliar demon.

Sesshoumaru’s hackles rose as he scoured the area, the intruder’s malevolent aura still tainting the air. Whoever this youkai was, he was formidable, dread sinking through Sesshoumaru as he imagined Kagome facing such an enemy alone. His dread intensified as he pursued their combined trails upward, taking to the sky in a burst of youki.

Only a short distance up, the trail abruptly ended, and Sesshoumaru drew to a halt in midair in stark disbelief. Just like Kagura’s, their scents had simply vanished.

Just like Kagura’s…

Anguished, Sesshoumaru sank back to the ground. Could this unknown demon be yet another of Naraku’s incarnations? If so, Kagome was no doubt already in the enemy’s grasp—and at his mercy.

The thought choked Sesshoumaru with desperate fury. How could he have been so careless? Thoughtlessly, he had taken her away from her allies, away from Entei—away even from her weapons. So absorbed in his own grief, he had left her alone—gravely wounded and defenseless—to fend for herself against their adversary. He should have known Naraku would be waiting for such an opportunity. He should have known…

Guilt and remorse overwhelmed him as he fell to his knees before the stone, touching his sullied claws to the small, bloody imprint of Kagome’s fingers. How long he remained this way was impossible to say. Only when he felt a familiar presence land beside him did Sesshoumaru look up at last.

Hard and red, Entei’s eyes bore into his own. The horse youkai must have tracked Kagome here through the bond they shared, and at his stillness, Sesshoumaru came to know a new depth of despair. Wherever she was, it was a place not even her soul-bound companion could reach her.

Truly, Kagome was lost.

The others were not far behind Entei. Sesshoumaru stood slowly as Jakken and Ah-Un alighted nearby, the imp’s salutations dying in his throat as he beheld his master. Cautiously, Jakken approached, hovering at the corner of Sesshoumaru’s vision as he continued to stare down at the stain of Kagome’s blood.

“Sesshoumaru-sama,” the taijiya hailed him as she leapt down from the transformed feline, the monk hurrying after her. “Sesshoumaru-sama, where is—”

The slayer skidded to a sudden halt, her eyes widening at the bloodied rock before her. “…Kagome-chan?” Horrified, she drew closer. “Where is she,” she asked, her voice rising in panic as her eyes snapped to his. “...Where is Kagome-chan?”

Hollowly, Sesshoumaru met her gaze. “She is gone.”

“Gone?” Dark eyes scanned his face, sharpening as they fell to the gore beneath his claws. “ _You_ …” she said lowly, advancing. “What did you do to her?—you attacked her, didn’t you?”

Jakken leapt forward in a rage. “How dare you, taijiya! Sesshoumaru-sama would never—”

“Yes,” Sesshoumaru confessed, looking down at Kagome’s red handprint once more, “I attacked her.”

“ _You monster_ ,” the slayer seethed, whipping her youkai bone weapon over her shoulder and bringing it down upon him.

Transfixed by Kagome’s blood still, Sesshoumaru dodged Sango’s strike narrowly, his eyes sliding reluctantly to her as the monk pulled her back.

“Sango,” Miroku said tersely as he restrained the distraught demon slayer, “calm yourself.”

“ _Calm myself_?!” the taijiya cried out, rounding upon him. “ _This_ —this _demon,_ ” she spat, glaring back at Sesshoumaru, “ _savaged_ Kagome-chan!”

Despite the monk’s hold, she strained a few vicious inches toward the daiyoukai. “Did you devour her?” she accused, Sesshoumaru bearing the insult in resignation. “Did you rip her to pieces, you sadistic beast? She was _right_ to flee from you all those months ago—she should have stayed,” the taijiya sobbed angrily, her words lancing through him. “She should have stayed away—far away from _you_.”

The monk held her to his chest as she sagged against him, sobbing still. “Kagome-chan…Kagome-chan, why…”

As the slayer continued to weep, Sesshoumaru turned away, Miroku’s fierce eyes glaring into his back. Even Jakken was staring at him in wary shock as Sesshoumaru took to the air once more.

Perhaps Kagome had vanished from this realm. Perhaps Naraku or another had stolen her away to a separate dimension altogether. But no matter where she was and who had taken her, Sesshoumaru would not rest until he had found her and set her free—even if he had to tear down the gates of hell itself.

This would be his first act of repentance. _This_ he vowed.

Eyes sharpening with resolve, Sesshoumaru flew south.

**xXxXxXx**

Darkness swallowed Kagome whole.

When she emerged into the low light again, the same red-and-white eyes were hovering above her still—framed by sharp porcelain features and a fall of black, wavy hair.

“…Naraku,” the miko gasped out, struggling to sit up on the futon beneath her.

“Kagome,” his smooth voice returned. “How sweet it is to hear you speak my name.”

Kagome flinched away as he reached for her. Collapsing onto an elbow, she thrust her free hand between them, her eyes widening in confusion as her reiki refused to channel to her palm.

Smiling indulgently, Naraku tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear. “Here,” he said, bringing the rim of a cup to her lips.

Reluctantly, Kagome drank, the cool water soothing her parched throat.

“Your spiritual powers have been subdued by Magatsuhi,” Naraku explained as he took the empty cup away. “It is for this purpose that I called him forth from the Jewel and gave him flesh.”

“From the Jewel?” Kagome asked in trepidation, tugging the blanket higher up her chest. “You mean, Magatsuhi is…”

“Yes,” Naraku said with a dark smile, “Magatsuhi is the demon of the Shikon no Tama—a personification of the evil spirit who wars with Midoriko still.” Folding his hands into his sleeves, he sat back, savoring Kagome’s distress. “Not only can he sense Jewel fragments as you can, he possesses the unique ability to seal your reiki—an ability which I will claim from him once his usefulness to me has ended.”

Surfacing in the center of his palm, the near-complete Jewel glowed violet-black. “Even as we speak, Magatsuhi is retrieving the final missing piece at my command. When he returns with it, all the shards will be in my possession at last.”

Kagome pressed a trembling hand to the purple splinter still wedged in her chest. Despair surged through her. If what he said was true, then the battle was already lost. With the completed Jewel in his grasp, Naraku would be unstoppable.

As her trembling intensified, he brushed aside her twitching fingers and plucked the Jewel shard from her skin, the dull pain of her injuries sweeping over her at once. Cringing, Kagome shrank in upon herself.

The hanyou chuckled as he joined her fragment to the rest. “When you used the Jewel to save yourself, Magatsuhi gained leverage against you.” The tips of his fingers touched lightly to the crescent wound in her chest. “Such selfishness. Kikyou would never have acted as you did—yet you are alive, and she is dead.” Slowly, his hand fell away from her, his simmering eyes remaining riveted upon hers. “We are both the abiding versions of our predecessors, are we not?”

Hot tears of anguish seared down Kagome’s cheeks as she glared at him in answer.

Naraku smirked as he stood. “Thanks to the power of the Shikon no Tama, your life is no longer in peril. Rest well now, Kagome,” he said as he went to the door, the fine hairs on her neck rising at the low promise in his voice. “I will call upon you again, soon.”

As the screen slid shut behind him, Kagome collapsed to the futon in agony, hopeless tears seeping into the fabric. It was over. Naraku had won. All their efforts had been for nothing, in the end.

And in the end, Sesshoumaru despised her still.

The emptiness was crushing, and she felt it bearing down on her like he had, reducing her to nothing but the bitter remains of herself. She had failed—failed at love, failed at her quest.

Failed at everything.

When the screen slid open once more, Kagome didn’t even stir. Numbly, she braced herself for Naraku’s triumph and for whatever horrors he had in store for her. Perhaps if the gods were merciful, they would finally just let her die.

But when footsteps padded over to her across the tatami, they were not Naraku’s. Blinking back her tears, Kagome glanced up to find Kagura staring down at her, her own crimson eyes flat with resignation.

“Sit up,” the wind sorceress ordered wearily. “I need to re-bandage your wounds.”

Slowly, Kagome pushed herself upright as Kagura unwound the strips of linen binding her around the back and chest. Just inside the doorway, Kanna stood in quiet vigil, her doll-like features as devoid of expression as ever.

Kagome winced as Kagura cleaned and dressed the long slashes on her back with clinical efficiency. “These cuts of yours are deep,” the wind witch remarked curtly. “I’ve done what I can for them, but you’ll always be scarred.”

The miko’s lashes lowered as she turned her face away. What difference did it make, if she was scarred or not?

“…Thanks,” she replied instead, “for seeing to them.”

Pausing, Kagura made a brisk sound of acknowledgment. For a while, she was silent.

“It was Sesshoumaru, wasn’t it,” she asked eventually, a note of wariness in her tone, “who did this to you?”

Kagome bowed her head, her defeated silence answer enough. Perhaps a little gentler than before, the demoness continued to bind her wounds. Quietly, Kagome considered her.

“Kagura,” she asked after a moment, “why did you return to Naraku?”

The wind witch tensed in surprise. “Why,” she repeated, sounding bewildered. “He holds my life in his hands. What choice did I have?”

Kagome nodded. She knew how it felt, to be wholly at the mercy of another. But even still…

Even still, she had chosen. And despite the pain, despite the failure, despite everything, she would make the same decision again in an instant.

Maybe it was weakness, maybe it was insanity, but…

_I love him._ Closing her eyes briefly, Kagome smiled.

_More than anything._

Smiling softly still, she met the wind witch’s gaze. “There’s always a choice.”

Kagura frowned in reply. Securing Kagome’s bandages with the deft tuck of a nail, the demoness stood and went to the door. As her hand pushed the screen aside, she cast one last inscrutable glance back at Kagome before stepping through.

Outside, a short thin shadow slanted just beyond the doorway. Voice as clipped as ever, Kagura addressed the shadow’s source.

“Come, Kohaku—we have tasks to attend to.” Bright red, her sharp eyes slanted back to Kanna’s as she turned to walk down the hall. “Open the way for us.”

Kanna’s vacant gaze slid downward as her mirror gleamed. “Yes, sister.”

With a short nod, the wind witch continued on, the shouji screen snapping shut decisively behind her.

**xXxXxXx**

Sesshoumaru grit his fangs, his claws scraping through his tousled bangs in frustration.

Once more, Kagome’s captor had eluded him.

Heatedly, he surveyed the wasted mountainside, its blasted slopes scattered with the remains of humans and demons alike. This was the scene of a massacre—yet another bloody scramble for the fractured Jewel which had concluded in total, sweeping slaughter. The foul aura of Sesshoumaru’s target still hovered above the fresh corpses, blanketing the earth and sky alike in a dense, nefarious fog. And beneath that fog, faint and nearly imperceptible, was the clear note of Kagome’s reiki.

Wending his way through the carnage, Sesshoumaru gleaned what additional knowledge he could of his quarry. For more than a week, he had been tracking this demon across all four lands, studying his movements and closing in on him slowly but steadily. Now, Sesshoumaru had missed him by a mere matter of hours.

Quelling his intense disappointment, he returned to the West to regroup and begin his search again.

Each minute that went by agonized him. He imagined Kagome, captive and frightened and in pain—an image which both galvanized and tormented him.

Perched upon a high cliff, he extended his senses farther than he ever had before, his exhausted youki depleting rapidly beneath the effort. But he could not stop. He could not afford to relent even in the slightest, or the opportunity to rescue her might very well slip away from him again.

So focused on ferreting out that accursed demonic signature, he scarcely paid any heed to the unnatural breeze that buffeted against him.

“My, Sesshoumaru-sama, you’re looking worse for wear,” a dry feminine voice remarked from beside him. “…Still, far better than the state you left your priestess in.”

Fangs bared, Sesshoumaru rounded upon Kagura in sudden fury. Her eyes flared wide as he ripped her from her feathered aircraft and pinned her to the ground by her throat.

“ _Where is she,_ ” he snarled, his knuckles paling as he tightened his grip. “Where is Kagome?”

“…Naraku’s castle,” Kagura wheezed out at once.

Sesshoumaru’s grip lessened slightly at the readiness of her answer. “Take me to her.”

The wind sorceress shook her head. “...I can’t, but I’ve brought something that can help you find her—on one condition.”

“ _Condition_ ,” Sesshoumaru seethed, venom welling beneath his claws. “You are in no position to make demands, witch. Tell me how to find her, or there will be no end to your suffering.”

To his surprise, the demoness responded with a choking, mirthless laugh.

“Torture me all you want,” she rasped out. “It’s only a short matter of time…until Naraku discovers my treachery.” An expression of anguish flitted across her features. “You can let this chance go by—or you can listen…listen _quickly_ to what I have to say.”

Sesshoumaru considered her narrowly. In truth, she had the advantage. What would he not give, to see Kagome safe again?

His venom dissipated as he eased the crushing pressure on Kagura’s throat. “State your condition.”

**xXxXxXx**

Dressed once more in her fire-rat haori, Kagome padded over to the window, Kanna still standing sentinel by the door. Hooking her fingers into the bars, the miko gazed out over the dark sprawl of Naraku’s phantom castle, an eerie purple sky roiling above it all. As she watched, vast monstrous shapes swam through the murky air, their spines and tails and wings denting against some invisible boundary that shielded the castle and its grounds.

Kagome’s skin prickled at the sight. There was something distinctly unsettling about those creatures. Somehow, she sensed that they didn’t belong to her world—and if this place was their domain, then neither did she.

“The demons of the Void,” Naraku’s silky voice addressed her from behind, “are fearsome indeed.”

Kagome turned with a start, retreating into the window as he approached her. Naraku smiled, his crimson eyes darkening with amusement.

“Can you sense their power, Kagome?” he asked, drawing to a stop just before her. “Such brutish strength…yet so easily brought to heel beneath my command.”

At this declaration, the violet sky parted above them. A gigantic dragon-like demon soared through the gap, its pale armored body translucent as quartz. Vaporous breath spilled from its cavernous jaws, Kagome shrinking back as Naraku dismissed it with a conceited glance.

“These empty beasts are simple to control,” he continued, his gaze flicking casually to Kanna before returning intently to her own. “But even the strongest will can be broken.”

Kagome flattened against the wall as Naraku advanced upon her, his knuckles skimming the stubborn line of her jaw.

“How I will enjoy it,” he murmured, the sound making her stomach turn, “breaking you.”

Kagome glared. “You’ll never break me, Naraku. I’d rather die than submit to you.”

The hanyou laughed, leaning in toward her. “You are terribly mistaken, Kagome,” he replied darkly, his cool breath whispering over her skin, “if you think that death will be an option for you.”

Kagome shivered, struggling to keep the fear from her eyes as he drew back with a smirk.

“Magatsuhi has returned,” Kanna announced suddenly from behind them.

Naraku’s smirk deepened, a tendril of relief wending through Kagome as he turned to the door. “Good.”

A moment later, Magatsuhi entered, his red eyes narrowing briefly as he crossed the threshold with Jewel shard in hand. Naraku stepped forward to meet him, the demon’s blue lips fixing in a sneer as he dropped the defiled shard into the hanyou’s outstretched palm.

“Only one remains apart from the rest,” Naraku stated, smiling in triumph as the dark gem showed only the slightest crack. “Bring me Kohaku,” he ordered smugly to Kanna.

“He is not here, master,” the waif-like girl replied.

“Not here,” Naraku repeated chillingly, rounding upon her after a moment of savage concentration. “ _Where is he?_ ”

“Kagura returned with him,” the incarnation answered tonelessly, “to the mortal realm.”

Crushing the incomplete Jewel in his fist, Naraku strode toward her, his expression thunderous with rage.

“Show me,” he demanded.

**xXxXxXx**

The wind sorceress sat up gingerly, rubbing at her neck.

“One of those swords of yours,” she said, glancing toward his left hip, “has the power to resurrect the dead, is that right?”

Sesshoumaru’s claws clenched around Tenseiga’s hilt. “How did you come by that knowledge?”

“Does it matter?” Kagura countered with a twist of her lips. “My condition is this: that you use your resurrection sword for me.”

Sesshoumaru’s brow creased in confusion. Her request caught him off guard to say the least. Yet he inclined his head nonetheless.

“I will do as you ask.”

The wind witch relaxed, looking toward the woods behind her as she stood. “Come over here, Kohaku.”

Lightly, a young boy in taijiya attire leapt down from the trees. Rising from his crouch, he approached, his brown eyes flat and expressionless.

“This boy has a shard of the Sacred Jewel embedded in his back,” Kagura stated. “A shard which Naraku uses to control him.”

Sesshoumaru regarded Kohaku. “This boy is the demon slayer Sango’s younger brother.”

Kagura nodded as the taijiya drew to an obedient stop beside her. “That Jewel shard of his is the only thing keeping him alive. If it’s removed, he’ll certainly die.”

Drawing Tenseiga, Sesshoumaru stepped forward. “I understand.”

Frowning, Kagura circled around Kohaku. With a flick of her fan, the shard expelled in a spray of blood, the boy crumpling lifelessly to the ground. Sharply, she turned away as Sesshoumaru leveled Tenseiga above him.

The fang glowed blue with otherworldly light, the pallbearers of hell materializing before the daiyoukai’s eyes. With a quick slash, he dispelled them all, and the boy drew in a gasping breath.

“…K-Kagura?” Kohaku stammered, sitting up.

“Hey, kid,” the demoness replied, the corner of her lips rising.

Blinking between her and Sesshoumaru, the young taijiya slowly stood. “Just now…what happened?”

“The shard in your back was removed, and thanks to Sesshoumaru-sama, your life’s been restored,” she said briskly, inspecting her fan. “You’re free now to go to your sister, or wherever you choose.”

“Th…Thank you,” he murmured to Sesshoumaru in awe before turning and flinging his arms around Kagura. “Thank you…!”

The wind witch’s eyes widened, her features softening briefly as she patted him on the head. “There, there…no need to be so sentimental.” Glancing archly away, she fanned her flushed cheeks. “I just didn’t want Naraku to get his way, that’s all.”

Eyes gleaming, Kohaku pulled back from her with a smile. Sheathing Tenseiga, Sesshoumaru strode past them, to where the expelled Jewel shard glittered rosily against the rock.

“Wait,” Kagura warned, walking over to join him. “Don’t touch it directly.”

A vast purifying power emanated from the shard. Slipping a hand beneath the neck of his haori, Sesshoumaru withdrew Kagome’s hair ribbon and folded the fragment within it.

“Before the priestess Kikyou died, she imbued Kohaku’s shard with her reiki,” Kagura explained, studying the small square resting in Sesshoumaru’s palm. “This is why Naraku’s been waiting to retrieve it—he needs to absorb Magatsuhi’s power first.”

Sesshoumaru’s eyes cut to her in question. “Magatsuhi?”

“The Shikon no Tama’s demonic incarnation,” Kagura replied. “Magatsuhi alone possesses the power to defile Kikyou’s handiwork, but at the moment, Naraku has him hunting down the remaining Jewel shards.” Her arms slanted across her chest as she met his gaze. “…He’s the one who kidnapped your miko, by the way.”

Sesshoumaru’s fist clenched. _Magatsuhi…I will rip you limb from limb._

“Naraku will send him after your shard too,” Kagura continued pointedly. “That’ll be your chance—defeat him and force Naraku out of hiding. His prisoner, as well.”

“Where is he keeping her?” Sesshoumaru demanded.

“In the void between worlds,” the wind sorceress answered. “Only his most loyal incarnation can open the way.”

As Sesshoumaru tucked the wrapped shard away, he regarded her shrewdly. The motive behind her actions eluded him. No doubt Naraku would kill her for such a betrayal as this.

“Why?” he asked her. “Why forefeit your life to lend me aid?”

Kagura glanced away. “I’ve done many regrettable things at Naraku’s command. I thought I didn’t have a choice in the matter, but now I realize that wasn’t true.” Her garnet eyes closed briefly. “Naraku is not my master—that’s what I’ve decided.”

With a soft sigh, she looked to him again.

“Sesshoumaru…I wanted to help you of my own free will.” Her eyes warmed as they held his. “This is the memory I wish to carry with me, in the end.”

Stepping back, she retrieved a feather from her hair, Kohaku frowning as she alighted upon it.

“Kagura,” the boy asked, “where will you go?”

Smiling serenely, she looked to the sky.

“Wherever the wind takes me.”


End file.
